Abstract
Insects need to maintain an adequate level of body water and have developed adaptations to reduce losing water by diffusion. The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), gets the water it requires from its food plant. The rate of water loss was evaluated under 12 regimes of temperature (20, 30, 35 and 40 °C) and humidity (15, 50, and 85%) during short exposure experiments (3 h) with four stages of the Colorado potato beetle. Insects lost water under all conditions tested but losses were greater at 40 °C. The critical equilibrium activity was evaluated by exposing the four stages to 30 °C and 5% relative humidity (r.h.) for 2–9 days. High mortality of second instar larvae was observed after two days, when the insects had lost c. 70% of their body water. Fourth instar larvae and adults survived a reduction of c. 60 and 48% of their body water over 7 and 9 days respectively. Forty-eight percent of the pupae maintained in dry conditions for two days did not emerge as adults, after losing c. 30% of the body water.
Published Version
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