Starvation tolerance of macropter brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, from temperate, subtropical, and tropical populations in East and South-East Asia

We compared the starvation tolerance of macropter brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Homoptera: Delphacidae), a characteristic favoring long-distance migration, among populations collected from subtropical and temperate East Asia, tropical Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula. Starvation tolerance of planthoppers was significantly affected by climatic zone in which the planthoppers had been collected and by feeding duration after adult eclosion. After 24 h feeding on rice, newly emerged macropters originating from East Asia lived longer without feeding (starvation tolerance) than macropters from the tropical populations. The difference in longevity between the two groups of populations became more conspicuous when macropters fed on rice for 48 or 72 h, indicating that post-eclosion feeding markedly increased starvation tolerance in East Asian populations relative to the tropical populations. These facts provide evidence that N. lugens populations that are adapted for long-distance migration are distributed in subtropical and temperate East Asia. From the data on post-eclosion feeding together with starvation tolerance, we discuss the timing of planthopper takeoff from paddies and the difference in resource allocation (vitellogenesis or stored resources) between East Asian and tropical populations.