Uninterrupted Development of Two Aphid Species Belonging to Cinara Genus during Winter Diapause.

Roma Durak,Anna Michalik,Jagoda Dampc,Sławomir Bartoszewski,Jan Dampc

doi:10.3390/insects11030150

Abstract

Aphids are herbivores carrying the status of major pests for crops and ornamental plants. The many specific biological features of aphids allow them to survive unfavorable environmental conditions. As for other insects, a predominant strategy for aphids surviving winter, is laying diapausing eggs. During diapause, the expression of development may vary between species. Most of the insects stop growing during diapause; however, there is limited information about this process. We immunostained the embryos of aphids in order to detect cell division during diapause. Here, for the first time, we present that two species of aphids belonging to Cinara grow and develop throughout the duration of the winter diapause. Our results showed that the “resting stage” does not occur in embryos of these aphid species. The embryo of C. cupressi and C. juniperi undergoes a type of diapause, with slow growth. It seems that this feature is conducive to the rapid development of embryos in the egg, which may be another specific feature for aphid biology of overwintering.

Highlights

Aphids (Hemiptera, Aphidoidea) are herbivores carrying the status of major pests for crops and ornamental plants
On day 84, the embryos of C. cupressi and C. juniperi were covered with an embryonic cuticle (Figure 1I)
The average length of leg increased by approximately 50% for C. cupressi, and 45% for C. juniperi

Summary

Introduction

Aphids (Hemiptera, Aphidoidea) are herbivores carrying the status of major pests for crops and ornamental plants. A high number of generations during the vegetation season, high fertility of females, and telescoping generations that allow shortening the development and simultaneous existence of many generations in the environment, together with parthenogenetic reproduction, contribute to the spread of particular aphid species onto many host plants. Long-term environmental changes result in changes in migration periods, changes in species’ diversity and ranges of species when seasonal changes could have influence on period colonization of host plants, number of generations per year, or fertility. The quiescence is dormancy caused by unpredictable, irregular stress, for example, acyclic environmental changes such as high or low temperatures, lack of food, or drought. In this case, the response of the insect should be quick and immediate.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion