Variation in diapause potential and strength in eggs of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Samples of eggs of Chortoicetes terminifera were incubated under 3 temperature regimes which would allow non-diapause eggs to develop about 50% and so take them beyond the diapause stage. Even so, many more eggs entered diapause when reared at 20°C for 3 weeks than at 32°C for 1 week. By collecting and incubating eggs at intervals after laying in autumn, diapause potential or strength of eggs at different stages of development was estimated. For eggs in pre-diapause, the proportion in diapause after rearing was used to estimate diapause “potential”; for those in diapause, the proportion was used to estimate diapause “strength”. At laying, eggs varied greatly in their potential to enter diapause. However, those with lower potential at laying often increased their potential during the pre-diapause stage so that by the time diapause was reached diapause strength varied but over a lesser range. In all eggbeds, diapause strength decreased by 7–9 weeks after laying; little or none remained by mid-winter.These variations in diapause potential and diapause strength seem to reflect how much the temperature threshold for development during diapause is increased above that for non-diapause. Both diapause potential and strength may reflect the value of some factor whose level at laying is determined by the environment experienced by the parents but which changes subsequently.     

Cold tolerance of first-instar nymphs of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera

The cold tolerance of first-instar nymphs of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera, was examined using measures of total body water content, supercooling point and mortality for a range of sub-zero temperature exposure regimes. The supercooling points for starved and fed nymphs were −13.1 ± 0.9 and −12.6 ± 1.6 °C, and freezing caused complete mortality. Above these temperatures, nymphs were cold tolerant to different degrees based on whether they were starved or given access to food and water for 24 h prior to exposure. The rate of cooling also had a significant effect on mortality. Very rapid cooling to −7 °C caused 84 and 87% mortality for starved and fed nymphs respectively, but this significantly decreased for starved nymphs if temperature declined by more ecologically realistic rates of 0.5 and 0.1 °C min⁻¹. These results are indicative of a rapid cold hardening response and are discussed in terms of the likely effects of cold nights and frost on first-instar nymphal survival in the field.     

Sensory adaptation and the regulation of meal size in the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera

Adults of Chortoicetes terminifera consumed larger meals of sucrose solution, applied as drops directly to their mouthparts, than of water. Meal size increased with increasing sucrose concentration up to 0·5 M but meals of 1·0 M sucrose were of lower volume. Locusts fed so that there was a short interval between each successive drop of sugar solution consumed greater volumes than those fed continuously, which indicates that sensory adaptation plays a part in bringing about the termination of meals of sugar solutions. Meals of water were not increased in size by discontinuous application.     

Some factors affecting flight in field populations of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (walker), in New South Wales

An attempt was made to determine some of the factors regulating flight activity in the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera (Walk.) by comparing the physiological characteristics of flying and non-flying locusts at different times of the day. Flight during the day did not appear to involve extensive displacements of the insects and was dependent largely on the, environmental conditions. The physiological state and age did not seem important and the milling flight of swarms involved insects of all ages and states of sexual maturity and the insects were commonly fully fed. There was probably at this time a continual interchange of insects between the air and the ground provided wind speeds are not too high and the air temperature was not below 19°C. Night flight, however, was observed only in locusts after the teneral period, when cuticle deposition was nearing completion around 10 days after the imaginal ecdysis and, in the case of the females, the oocytes were relatively undeveloped. Night flight was also associated with a failure to feed prior to sunset; only those with empty foreguts being stimulated to fly with the drop in light intensity, when the temperature was not too low and certainly not below 17·5°C. It is probably the older insects which take-off in these circumstances for by the time of sunset 30 to 40 per cent of the older, ones apparently fail to feed on any one evening and empty locusts tend to be more active than fully fed ones. The females appeared to show a flight periodicity related to the oviposition cycle, which under suitable conditions, leads to the displacement of about one-third of the population which is sexually immature or which has already recently oviposited. The flight activity of females is probably greater than that of the males for the sexes were in equal ratio in insects caught in flight while males exceeded females in ground populations. At sunset, fewer females than males still had full foreguts and were perhaps more likely to take-off while a higher proportion of younger females than males may soon re-alight if their physiological state is unfavourable for prolonged flight at night.     

Behavioural phase change in the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera, is triggered by tactile stimulation of the antennae

Density-dependent phase polyphenism is a defining characteristic of the paraphyletic group of acridid grasshoppers known as locusts. The cues and mechanisms associated with crowding that induce behavioural gregarization are best understood in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, and involve a combination of sensory inputs from the head (visual and olfactory) and mechanostimulation of the hind legs, acting via a transient increase in serotonin in the thoracic ganglia. Since behavioural gregarization has apparently arisen independently multiple times within the Acrididae, the important question arises as to whether the same mechanisms have been recruited each time. Here we explored the roles of visual, olfactory and tactile stimulation in the induction of behavioural gregarization in the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera. We show that the primary gregarizing input is tactile stimulation of the antennae, with no evidence for an effect of visual and olfactory stimulation or tactile stimulation of the hind legs. Our results show that convergent behavioural responses to crowding have evolved employing different sites of sensory input in the Australian plague locust and the desert locust.     

An excitatory state generated during feeding in the locust, Chortoicetes terminifera

Various sequences of 2 μl drops of 1·0 M sucrose and water were applied directly to the mouthparts of restrained adults of the locust Chortoicetes terminifera which had been deprived of all food for 24 hr, and the number of drops consumed was recorded. Locusts fed either single drops of sucrose solution and water in alternation or single drops of sucrose solution alternated with groups of four consecutive drops of water, consumed larger total volumes than locusts fed only drops of water or locusts offered water after having been fed partially or wholly to repletion with 1·0 M sucrose. Towards the end of meals consisting of repeated cycles of one drop of sucrose solution and four drops of water, locusts consumed the one or two drops of water which followed a sucrose drop more quickly than the drop which preceded it. Furthermore, a few locusts which received this treatment terminated their meal while either a drop of sucrose solution or the water drop which immediately followed the sucrose drop was in contact with their mouthparts. The findings provide strong evidence that stimulation received during ingestion of sucrose induces, in addition to an immediate excitatory effect on the feeding system, a perseverating state of neural excitation which, for a short time afterward, increases the chance that the insect will ingest water.     

Factors affecting the rate of ingestion of liquids by the locust, Chortoicetes terminifera

Neither the overall rate of intake of liquids by adults of Chortoicetes terminifera, calculated over the course of a whole meal, nor the rate of consumption during the first half of meals was dependent upon the stimulating power of the liquid, water being taken at the same rate as a veriety of more powerfully stimulating sucrose solutions. Rates of intake tended to decrease towards the end of meals, the greatest decreases occurring when the locusts consumed large volumes of liquid. When locusts were given alternate drops of water and 1·0 M sucrose, the rates of consumption of the two kinds of drops were similar for most of the meal, but towards the end of the meal drops of sucrose solution were consumed more rapidly than those of water.     

Embryonic diapause in the Australian plague locust relative to parental experience of cumulative photophase decline

The Australian plague locust Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker) exhibits facultative embryonic diapause during autumn. To approximate natural photoperiod changes during late summer and autumn, locust nymphs were reared under different total declines in laboratory photophase (−0.5, −0.75, −1.0, −1.25, −1.5, −1.75, −2 h each lowered in 15 min steps) in a 24 h photoperiod to quantify any effect on the subsequent production of diapause eggs. Induction of diapause eggs was significantly affected by accumulated photoperiod decline experienced by the parental generation throughout all development stages from mid-instar nymph to fledgling adult. The incidence of embryonic diapause ranged from nil at −0.5 h to 86.6% diapause at −2 h. Continued declines in photoperiod for post-teneral locusts (transitioned from −1 h until fledging to −1.75 h) produced a further increase in the proportion of diapause eggs. The results were unaffected by time spent at any given photoperiod, despite a previously indicated maximal inductive photoperiod of 13.5 h being used as the mid-point of all treatments. Implications for the seasonal timing processes of photoperiodism in C. terminifera, which has a high migratory capacity and a latitudinal cline in the timing of diapause egg production across a broad geographic range, are discussed.     

Levels of ecdysteroids in diapause and non-diapause eggs of the Australian plague locust,Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker)

The levels of ecdysteroids during embryogenesis in Chortoicetes terminifera were measured by radioimmunoassay. Soon after laying, eggs laid by females reared under non-diapause conditions contained three times as much as those laid by females reared under diapause inducing conditions. In eggs incubated at 32°C which did not enter diapause there was a sharp rise in ecdysteroid levels which coincided with the formation of the first-instar cuticle, but this did not occur in eggs incubated at 20°C even though they developed and hatched normally. Comparisons are made with previous results in other locust species and the possible role of ecdysteroids in embryonic diapause is discussed.     

A relationship between weight loss during food deprivation and subsequent meal size in the locust, Chortoicetes terminifera

Sizes of meals of 0·5 M sucrose taken by adults of either sex of Chortoicetes terminifera showed a strong positive correlation with the weight loss of the insects during the preceding 24 hr period of food deprivation. The relationship was less marked in males fed water, and there was no relationship in those fed 1·0 M sucrose. Meal size in females fed water was as strongly weight loss dependent as in those fed 0·5 M sucrose, but was less so in those fed 1·0 M sucrose. The results indicated that changes occurring after the completion of gut emptying influence meal size.     

Temperature related effects on embryonic development of the Mediterranean locust, Dociostaurus maroccanus

Laboratory studies were conducted to assess the effect of temperature on the development of the eggs of Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg) (Orthoptera, Acrididae) during anatrepsis (stages I–XIV) and during catatrepsis (stages XV–XX). The developmental rates of anatrepsis were studied at five constant temperatures ranging from 10 to 30°C. Egg development occurred over the entire range but at 10°C the embryos were unable to complete anatrepsis. The relationship between temperature and developmental times for completing anatrepsis was analysed by the non‐linear Logan type III model. The optimal temperature estimated for the development of eggs during anatrepsis was 24.7°C; the lower and upper thermal thresholds were 9°C and 31°C, respectively. Once the embryos completed anatrepsis, only those incubated at 15°C continued morphogenesis beyond stage XIV (diapause stage) without a low‐temperature exposure period. The developmental rate of catatrepsis was studied at four constant temperatures ranging from 15°C to 30°C after exposure to low‐temperature, 10°C, for 30, 60 or 90 days. For catatrepsis, temperature and developmental time were linearly and inversely related. Linear regression was used to estimate the lower developmental threshold and the degree days requirements for catatrepsis. Both decreased with longer exposure to the low temperature; the former from 13.8°C to 10.5°C and the latter from 212.8 to 171.5 degree days, following 30 and 90 days at 10°C, respectively. Our results improve the ability of decision support systems for Mediterranean locust pest management by providing better forecasts to land managers and pest advisors.     

Thermoperiodic induction of larval diapause in the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis

Thermoperiodic induction of larval diapause was shown to occur in the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner). Using continuous darkness and thermoperiods of the format XC:24-XT(15:30°C), incidence of diapause was shown to be dependent on phase durations, with a critical cryophase of about 9.5 hr. A thermoperiodic response threshold was demonstrated; it was found to be very close to 17.5°C. Thermoperiodic amplitude (temperature difference between cryophase and thermophase) was shown to have no influence on the induction of diapause, within a relatively broad range of physiological temperatures. Thermoperiodic induction of diapause was shown to be at least partially independent from the effects of temperature on larval developmental rates.     

Evidence from traditional and new technologies for northward migrations of Australian plague locusts (Chortoicetes terminifera) (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) to western Queensland

Abstract The development of recent infestations of the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera) (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) has been traced using traditional survey data combined with information from several modern technologies including simulation of windborne transport trajectories, direct observation with entomological radar and satellite imagery. The results indicate that migration from spring generations in the southern and eastern parts of the species range, including agricultural areas, to the summer rainfall areas in arid western Queensland (Qld) has contributed to the development of infestations on several occasions. Migration from swarm populations in New South Wales to western Qld in November and December 1999 contributed to a rapid population increase that, over a sequence of generations, led to the major infestation of agricultural areas in March and April 2000. There is evidence that northward migrations also occurred in 1995, 1997 and 2000. These contributed to the early summer populations in Qld, but did not result in large migrations to the south in autumn. These observations suggest that a pattern of exchange migration across much of the geographical range of the species between regions of winter and summer rainfall characterizes the spatial dynamics of this species. This pattern appears to be adaptive and suggests migration in C. terminifera is sustained by contemporary natural selection.     

The effects of temperature and moisture on the inception of diapause in eggs of the Australian plague locust,Chortoicetes terminifera Walker (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Chortoicetes terminifera lays a mixture of diapause and non-diapause eggs during the autumn months of March and April. Diapause eggs cease development in late anatrepsis when kept in moist soil at 32.5°C. These conditions favour rapid embryogenesis and hatching in non-diapause eggs. Significant reductions in the incidence of diapause were obtained when newly-laid eggs were kept for 40 days at either 15.5°C or 32.5°C in conditions that prevented the uptake of water. In eggs held for a similar period in moist soil at 15.5°C, diapause was virtually eliminated. These eggs did not develop to the stage at which water uptake occurs. It is suggested that the inception of diapause is dependent upon the occurrence of warm, moist conditions at the time of laying and that these requirements are an integral part of the overall inductive process, which also involves the temperature and photoperiod at which the parent insects are reared. A flow-diagram illustrating the development of diapause eggs in relation to temperature and moisture is discussed in relation to the survival of the species.     

Seasonal diapause development and diapause termination in the European skipper, Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.)

Eggs of the European skipper, Thymelicus lineola, containing pharate first-instar larvae were brought into the laboratory at the beginning of each month from September to May and maintained at 20°C, 14L:10D. No emergence was observed within 40 days of collection before December. From that time on, while total emergence was similar, the duration of the emergence period decreased over the season from > 120 days in December to < 14 days in May. There was however no marked change in the seasonal supercooling point values of diapausing larvae.The rate of emergence from eggs collected in March was influenced by photoperiod, being slower under short-day conditions. However for any given photoperiod tested, the rate of emergence increased with an increase in temperature. The possible adaptive significance of a two-phase diapause, where diapause termination is photoperiodically controlled in species that overwinter as an egg or as a pharate first-instar larva within the egg chorion in exposed habitats, is discussed.     

The subgenus Persicargas (Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Argas), 26. Argas (P.) arboreus: Effect of photoperiod on diapause induction and termination

Prefeeding exposure of female Argas (Persicargas) arboreus to short photoperiod (SP) induces diapause, expressed as oviposition delay for more than 40 days postfeeding. Diapause incidence increases as prefeeding SP exposure periods increase. Postfeeding SP exposure is not essential to maintain diapause. Postfeeding exposure to SP without prefeeding SP exposure does not induce diapause. A 2 week prefeeding exposure to long photoperiod (LP) terminates diapause in two-thirds of the females exposed to LP after feeding. The remaining one-third, which may differ genetically, require a 6 week LP prefeeding exposure to terminate diapause. An 8 week prefeeding exposure to LP is required to terminate diapause in females exposed to SP after feeding.     

Diapause induction, maintenance and termination in the rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker)

The rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, enters facultative diapause as fully grown larvae in response to short-day conditions during the autumn. Our results showed that the critical night length for diapause induction in C. suppressalis was between 10 h 22 min and 10 h 45 min at 22, 25 and 28 °C, 11 h 18 min at 31 °C, and between 10 h 5 min and 10 h 20 min under field conditions (average temperature ranged from 27.2 to 30.7 °C). The diapause incidence declined in ultra-long nights (18-22 h scotophases) and DD, and increased in ultra-short nights (2-6 h scotophases) and LL. Moreover, we found that the third instar was the stage most sensitive to the photoperiod, and night length played an essential role in the initiation of diapause. Night-interruption experiments with a 1-h light pulse at LD 12:12 (light 12:dark 12) exhibited two troughs of diapause inhibition, with one occurring in early scotophase and the other in late scotophase. Field observations for six years showed that most larvae entered winter diapause in August in response to declining day lengths, despite the high temperatures prevailing during August. By periodically transferring the field-collected overwintering larvae to different photoperiods and temperatures, the results showed that photoperiod had a significant influence on diapause development during the early phase of diapause, while high temperature significantly accelerated the termination of larval diapause.     

低温和变温诱导对飞蝗胚胎发育的影响

【目的】飞蝗Locusta migratoria(Linnaeus)是我国乃至全世界广泛发生的重要农业害虫,其种群暴发会给农作物造成重大为害和减产。飞蝗种群发生动态受低温及变温的影响,但低温和变温如何作用于胚胎发育和是否诱导胚胎滞育的发生,目前尚不清楚。【方法】本文在对飞蝗胚胎发育特点观察鉴定的基础上,研究了胚胎发育中期恒定低温诱导、诱导后恢复、发育中期变温诱导及发育早期低温诱导等条件对胚胎发育进程的影响。【结果】研究发现,胚胎发育起点温度下非致死温度7.5℃处理促使胚胎发育历期变异增加,而25~30℃高温下胚胎发育整齐。7.5℃处理时间长短对胚胎发育影响不明显,但该低温培育时间长短影响后期常温下的胚胎发育,即7.5℃下长期低温可能促进25℃或30℃下的胚胎的发育。25℃以下变温温度影响胚胎发育进展,但影响胚胎发育的限制因子主要是发育起点以上温度。【结论】因此,温度作为单一环境因子,其特定的低温和变温处理不仅没有诱导胚胎滞育的发生,反而促进后期胚胎在常温下的发育。本研究结果对揭示温度变化对个体发育和种群动态影响及预测飞蝗种群发生有重要的指导意义。     

Analysis of the development of major plagues of the Australian plague locust Chortoicetes terminifera (Walker) using a simulation model

The development and decline of all the past major plagues of Chortoicetes terminifera in Australia has been analysed using all available locust data and a simulation model to estimate the course of events for periods when few locusts were reported. The model is based on the developmental biology of the locust and includes methods of estimating the duration of egg, nymphal and adult development and uses a pasture growth index and potential night displacement index to assess likely survival and migration. The analysis shows that five of the six plagues originated in the arid interior, where good spring and summer rain allowed two or three consecutive generations of successful breeding, before emigration to the agricultural country occurred in the late summer or early autumn. This is contrary to the idea held previously that most plagues developed from local breeding in established outbreak areas in the agricultural belt. The applications of these results, to improve population monitoring and control strategy by suggesting the best timing for surveys and when control would have most effect, are discussed.     

用MODIS遥感数据监测东亚飞蝗灾害——以河北省南大港为例

东亚飞蝗自20世纪80年代以来在我国再度猖獗危害。本文选择国家一类蝗区河北省南大港农场水库为实验区,以2002年东亚飞蝗（夏蝗）大发生为背景,测定了不同受害程度芦苇的光谱曲线,并用MODIS遥感数据分析蝗灾危害范围和程度。结果表明,健康芦苇（未受害）呈现出典型植被光谱的“峰和谷”特征;而受害芦苇,其红光区处反射率增加,且受害程度越重,增加愈显著,近红外区的反射率则显著降低,且受害程度越重,反射率愈低。比较多时相归一化植被指数（NDVI）受灾前后的变化,NDVI值增加表明未受蝗虫危害,而其下降则表明是受灾区域,结合地面数据,找出了不同危害程度的NDVI临界值;其次根据像元累计法,确定了不同受灾程度的面积。结果显示,NDVI小于0.2156和0.2389分别为严重受灾区和中等受灾区,其发生面积依次为168.74 hm²和337.48 hm²,判对率分别为72.97%和68.35%。MODIS遥感监测蝗灾发生面积（中等受灾及严重受灾）占实际发生面积的82.76%。研究结果为实时、快速、大面积监测蝗虫种群动态奠定了基础,并为合理 、经济地防治蝗灾提供了科学依据。