Temperature-Induced Quiescence in the Eggs of the Desert Locust1

Abstract

When freshly laid eggs of Schistocerca gregaria Forskal were obtained from both solitary and gregarious parents and incubated at 15.5°C, the eggs became quiescent, a condition which may last 85 days or longer. This quiescence was terminated by increasing the incubation temperature to the optimal range. When a quiescent state was induced in the early embryonic development, all eggs from solitary-phase females yielded black hatchlings when incubated at the optimal temperature. The small percentage of green hatchlings which usually emerge from eggs produced by gregarious females was totally eliminated when they passed through a cold-induced quiescent state in very early embryonic development.