Life table and heat tolerance of Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in subtropical Taiwan

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the life table of Acyrthosiphon pisum reared on Pisum sativum was evaluated under laboratory conditions using temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C. The development time of juvenile A. pisum decreased with increasing temperature (from 21.3 days at 10°C to 4.7 days at 35°C). Adult longevity also decreased with increasing temperature (from 53.2 days at 10°C to 2.3 days at 35°C). Interestingly, 70% and 25% of A. pisum nymphs reared at 30°C and 35°C, respectively, successfully developed into adults. These temperatures have previously been considered unsuitable for A. pisum development. However, adult aphids reared at 30°C and 35°C failed to reproduce. Linear regression analysis revealed that the lower development threshold of A. pisum was 153.1 degree-days above 1.9°C. Maximal average reproductive capability was observed at 10°C for A. pisum adults, with each adult producing more than 120 nymphs. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) of A. pisum increased from 0.124/day at 10°C to 0.337/day at 25°C, whereas opposite trends were observed for the net reproductive rate (R0) and the mean generation time (GT). At 20°C and 25°C, the intrinsic rate of increase of A. pisum was significantly higher than at 10°C and 15°C (P < 0.0001), indicating that 20°C and 25°C are within the optimal range for the growth of A. pisum, and that 30°C is beyond the upper threshold limit for reproduction, which involves a temperature range that is narrower than that of the survival range (upper limit is unknown, but above 35°C).

Personality variation in a clonal insect: The pea aphid,Acyrthosiphon pisum

“…5 days are a substantial part of an aphid's adult life: previous studies have measured an average of 6-10 days reproductive activity and adult longevity for pea aphids (Morgan, Walters, & Aegerter, 2001;Lu & Kuo, 2008) kept under similar temperature regimes as reported here. An individual's response to a predator threat can have substantial fitness consequences: the costs of staying on a plant can be high since dropping significantly reduces the risk of being predated by a coccinellid predator (Niku, 1976;Francke et al, 2008).…”

Life stage‐dependent effects of experimental heat waves on an insect herbivore

“…Aphid populations decreased more steeply with increases in the peak amplitude and frequency of extreme temperatures (Gillespie et al, 2012;Sentis et al, 2013). Lu & Kuo, 2008;Chiu et al, 2012;Chen et al, 2013). In other studies on aphids, some nymphs were killed by extreme temperatures or suffered injury during development (Davis et al, 2006;Kuo et al, 2006b;Hazell et al, 2010).…”

“…At a high temperature (30 ∘ C), aphids can complete their entire lifecycle in 1 month or less (Kuo et al, 2006a(Kuo et al, ,2006bLu & Kuo, 2008). At a high temperature (30 ∘ C), aphids can complete their entire lifecycle in 1 month or less (Kuo et al, 2006a(Kuo et al, ,2006bLu & Kuo, 2008).…”

“…Sporadic, extreme weather events, such as heat waves, can rapidly impact organisms, populations, and communities (Gillespie et al, 2012;Sentis et al, 2013). The effects of heat waves are particularly severe for ectotherms because ambient temperature strongly affects their physiological functions (Kuo et al, 2006b;Lu & Kuo, 2008;Karl et al, 2011). When arthropods are exposed to extreme temperatures they suffer decreases in growth rates, reproduction, and population size (Davis et al, 2006;Hazell et al, 2010;Sentis et al, 2013).…”

Genotype‐by‐genotype specificity remains robust to average temperature variation in an aphid/endosymbiont/parasitoid system

“…Aphids, bacterial endosymbionts and Hymenopteran parasitoids, the study organisms in the current investigation, are affected by temperature variation in multitudinous aspects of their life history. In aphids, these range from the rate of clonal reproduction (Fenton et al, 2010), size and developmental rate over female morph and sex determination (Nunes & Hardie, 1999), to longevity (Lu & Kuo, 2008). High temperature can eliminate or reduce endosymbiont population densities within individual hosts (Ohtaka & Ishikawa, 1991;Montllor et al, 2002).…”