Factors Influencing Cold Hardiness during Overwintering of Streltzoviella insularis (Lepidoptera: Cossidae).

Abstract

Streltzoviella insularis (Staudinger) (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is a woodboring pest that severely damages urban and plain afforestation trees in northern China. Cold hardiness is an important strategy for the insect to survived during low winter temperatures. Understanding the strategy of S. insularis might provide insights for pest management approaches. To assess the key factors affecting cold hardiness, we measured the supercooling point, freezing point, total water content, total fat content, glycogen content, and total protein content of overwintering larvae. The relationships between supercooling points, temperature, body size, and nutrients were analyzed. The results showed that the supercooling point and freezing point of the larvae decreased first, reached the lowest point in January, and then increased during the rest of the overwintering period. The supercooling point positively correlated with the daily average temperature and the daily minimum temperature. Total lipid content negatively correlated with the supercooling point, while glycogen content had a significant positive correlation with the supercooling point. The temperature may have a major impact on cold hardiness, whereas individual body size may have no significant influence over cold tolerance. During the overwintering process, glycogen and total lipid contents may directly affect cold hardiness. Therefore, the lipid and carbohydrate metabolism may play a role in the cold tolerance of S. insularis larvae. This study provides a physiological and biochemical basis for future metabolic studies on S. insularis larva and the research of overwintering strategies.