Abstract
Hot days in summer (involving a few hours at particularly high temperatures) are expected to become more common under climate change. How such events at different life stages affect survival and reproduction remains unclear in most organisms. Here, we investigated how an exposure to 40 °C at different life stages in the global insect pest, Plutella xylostella, affects immediate survival, subsequent survival and reproductive output. First-instar larvae showed the lowest survival under heat stress, whereas 3rd-instar larvae were relatively heat resistant. Heat exposure at the 1st-instar or egg stage did not influence subsequent maturation success, while exposure at the 3rd-instar larval stage did have an effect. We found that heat stress at developmental stages closer to adult stage caused greater detrimental effects on reproduction than heat stress experienced at earlier life stages. The effects of hot events on insect populations can therefore depend critically on the timing of the event relative to an organism’s life-cycle.
Highlights
Effects of hot events on demographics are likely to be stage specific because physiological responses to temperature change during development[7,8]
(1) Do heat effects on survival vary between development stages? (2) What is the impact of heat exposures at different stages on adult reproduction? (3) Does heat exposure in the most thermally sensitive stage generate the largest reduction in adult egg production? To answer these questions, we investigated the effects of heat stress during five stages at 40 °C for 4–24 hrs exposures on immediate survival, subsequent survival to adulthood and fecundity
We identified the effects of heat stress during five stages on immediate survival, subsequent survival and fecundity after exposure to 40 °C
Summary
Effects of hot events on demographics are likely to be stage specific because physiological responses to temperature change during development[7,8]. Lepidoptera usually do not take in nitrogen sources at the adult stage, limiting the extent to which they might be able to repair damage due to heat stress at earlier developmental stages We investigate this issue in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, the most destructive pest of cruciferous crops around the world. In our study site at Wuhan (30.62N, 114.13E), peak densities of Plutella usually occur from early May to early June and consist of multiple overlapping generations During this time when hot events occur, all life stages are present in the field. We investigated the effects of heat stress during five stages (egg, 1st-instar larva, 3rd-instar larva, pupa and both female and male adult) at 40 °C for 4–24 hrs exposures on immediate survival, subsequent survival to adulthood and fecundity The following questions are considered. (1) Do heat effects on survival vary between development stages? (2) What is the impact of heat exposures at different stages on adult reproduction? (3) Does heat exposure in the most thermally sensitive stage (the most vulnerable to heat stress in terms of immediate survival) generate the largest reduction in adult egg production? To answer these questions, we investigated the effects of heat stress during five stages (egg, 1st-instar larva, 3rd-instar larva, pupa and both female and male adult) at 40 °C for 4–24 hrs exposures on immediate survival, subsequent survival to adulthood and fecundity
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