Abstract
Cold winter temperatures can influence insects’ survival in temperate zones. Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) overwinters as adults in natural and human-made structures. In this study, we characterized low temperature mortality rates of H. halys adults that were either entering (ENA) or exiting (EXA) overwintering microhabitats. We considered the effect of different duration of cold exposure on mortality. We determined the impact of insect nutritional status and weight on cold tolerance. We additionally evaluated the effects of cold exposure on H. halys adult longevity and fecundity. Mortality of ENA and EXA adults was determined for 6 h and 2 h periods at − 2.5 °C and 2.5 °C respectively. EXA adults displayed higher mortality rates compared to ENA individuals at the low-temperature regimes. Halyomorpha halys adult survival rate was higher when their nutrient index (EXA individuals only) and weight were high. Low-temperature exposure increased longevity, but reduced fecundity of ENA females. The data further highlight how extreme spring frost events can result in significantly increased mortality levels of H. halys adults.
Highlights
Low temperature exposure during winter and extreme spring frost events can strongly contribute to a significant increase in mortality of overwintering insects
Halyomorpha halys adults used in this study experienced the following environmental conditions: 2.6 ± 0.1 °C in the coldest month (December), and 20.7 ± 0.2 °C in the warmest (May)
For exiting dormancy (EXA) adults, mortality was observed at comparatively low levels at 2.5 °C for 2 h (10% of mortality rate)
Summary
Low temperature exposure during winter and extreme spring frost events can strongly contribute to a significant increase in mortality of overwintering insects. These events subsequently influence population size and damage risk to crops. Induction of diapause in insects is largely mediated by changes in photoperiod and temperature[1,2,3] In temperate climates, these environmental cues strongly influence and trigger key stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) physiological processes, resulting in facultative diapause[4]. Halyomorpha halys is an invasive species native to East Asia, and is widespread in North America, Europe and South A merica[10] This insect has been successfully intercepted at points-of-entry including New Zealand, thereby preventing known wild c olonization[11,12]. Exposure to low temperatures may have an impact on post-diapause survival, fecundity and behaviour, but these impacts can vary depending on the species even within a family, e.g. within P entatomidae[4,30,31,32,33]
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