Environmental Entomology (2017) 46, 954-959

Fatemeh Saeidi, Saeid Moharramipour and Azam Mikani (2017)
Rapid cold hardening capacity and its impact on performance of Russian wheat aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
Environmental Entomology 46 (4), 954-959
Abstract: The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), is one of the most important pests of wheat and barley in most wheat-producing countries. Rapid cold hardiness (RCH) is a capacity of insects to develop, within hours, protection against subfreezing temperatures that plays an important role in aphid survival in response to sudden decreases in air temperature. In this research, we investigated the duration and rate of cooling on the induction of RCH of D. noxia and the costs of RCH on aphid development and fecundity. By transferring aphids directly from 20 °C to a range of subzero temperatures for 2 h, the lower lethal temperature for 80% mortality (LT₈₀) was determined to be - 11.9 °C. Preconditioning the aphids at 0 °C for 1–3 h prior to exposure at (LT₈₀) (-11.9 °C) resulted in a sharp increase in survival, with little change with longer durations of preconditioning. The slowest cooling rate (0.05 °C/min) increased survival fourfold, whereas rates from 0.1 to 1 °C/min increased survival twofold compared with a direct transfer to 0 °C, regardless of aphid stage used. Deleterious effects of RCH were not observed on aphid development, longevity, or fecundity. The present study indicates that RCH is induced in D. noxia in just a few hours in response to sudden lowering of temperatures to freezing, with little or no cost in reproductive capacity.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Saeid Moharramipour

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diuraphis noxia