EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY

Eur. J. Entomol. 90 (1): 51-64, 1993

Predicting development times of six stored-product moth species (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in relation to temperature, relative humidity, and diet

SUBRAMANYAM B., HAGSTRUM D.W.

N/A

A four-parameter nonlinear regression model was fitted to development data of six stored-product moth species (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) reared at various constant temperatures, and at 60-80% relative humidity on wheat or wheat-based diets. The model provided new information and quantitative description for predicting egg, larval, pupal, and egg-to-adult (total) development times, and also was useful in comparing the influence of relative humidity and diet on development times. Averaged across the six moth species, about 8%, 77%, and 15% of total development time was spent in egg, larval, and pupal stages, respectively. Temperature had the greatest influence on egg-to-adult development time, followed by relative humidity and diet. The temperatures for maximum and minimum development rates (1/development time), and degree-days required for egg-to-adult development, varied with the species. Independently derived egg-to-adult development times (n = 39) for the moth species reared at fewer than five temperatures, and at 50-90% relative humidity on different diets, were compared with those predicted by the four-parameter model for the same species. Across all six species, in 64% of the cases, development times predicted by the model were within 3 days of the actual data. In 23% and 13% of the cases, model predictions were within 4-10 and >10 days, respectively, of the actual data.

Keywords: Stored-product moths, environment, development, modelling

Accepted: September 28, 1992; Published: March 25, 1993  Show citation