Effects of four constant temperatures on the development of two Bradysia (Diptera: Sciaridae) species

Abstract

As a poikilothermic animal, insects are sensitive to temperature fluctuation (Julie & Robby, 2019;Kang et al., 2009;Shi et al., 2017). Effects of temperature on insects are mainly on development rate, body weight, body size, fecundity and metabolic rate (Rungtip et al., 2020;Shi et al., 2011). In nature, there are three temperature regimes for insects and other exothermic organisms (such as arachnids, reptiles and plants): low temperature regime, suitable temperature regime and high temperature regime (Shi et al., 2011). Different insect species have different temperature ranges in their suitable temperature regimes. For the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi, the developmental rate was accelerated, and the developmental duration was shortened within 15-30°C (Chen et al., 2015). When the small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus was reared at 18-27°C, the