Effects of temperature on the immature development of the stone leek leafminer Liriomyza chinensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

The effect of nine constant temperatures (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5 30, 32.5, and 35 degrees C) on the development of the stone leek leafminer, Liriomyza chinensis (Kato), on Japanese bunching onion, Allium fistulosum L., was studied in the laboratory. Developmental times for immature stages were inversely proportional to temperature between 15 and 30 degrees C but increased at 32.5 degrees C. Total developmental times from egg to adult emergence decreased from 69.6 to 17.1 d for temperatures from 15 to 30 degrees C, with pupae requiring more time for development than the combined egg and larva stages. Both linear and nonlinear (Logan equation VI) models provided a reliable fit of development rates versus temperature for all immature stages. The lower developmental thresholds that were estimated from linear regression equations for the egg, first, second, and third instars, total larva, egg-larval, pupa, and total combined immature stages were 12.1, 10.6, 13.6, 8, 9.6, 11.3, 11.2, and 11.4 degrees C, respectively. The degree-day accumulation was calculated as 312.5 DD for development from egg to adult emergence. By fitting the nonlinear models to the data, the upper and optimal temperatures for egg, larva, pupa, and total immature stages were calculated as 37.8 and 31.7, 34.9 and 30.1, 35.8 and 30.6, and 35.0 and 30.9 degrees C, respectively. These data are useful for predicting population dynamics of L. chinensis under field conditions and determining the maximum proportion of susceptible individuals for facilitating improved timing of application of control measures.