Environmental Entomology (1984) 13, 794-799

Daniel A. Potter and F. Carter Gordon (1984)
Susceptibility of Cyclocephala immaculata (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) eggs and immatures to heat and drought in turf grass
Environmental Entomology 13 (3), 794-799
Abstract: Eggs of the southern masked chafer, Cyclocephala immaculata Olivier, are laid under turf grass in the upper 3 cm of soil, where they are vulnerable to heat and desiccation. The ability of eggs to survive periods of drought was found to depend upon egg age, stress duration, and temperature. At 25°C, the minimum soil moisture level at which eggs developed was between 10.3 and 12.3%. Eggs surviving a stress period early in development required several days longer to hatch. In field tests, no eggs survived in desiccated turf, where afternoon soil temperatures exceeded 40°C and soil moisture dropped to <8%. Egg survival ranged from 55 to 73% in irrigated turf. Caged gravid females failed to lay eggs, and implanted 1st-instar grubs did not survive in desiccated turf.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cyclocephala lurida	Grasses/turf/rangeland	U.S.A. (NE)