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Photoperiodic control of reproduction in the milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis
Author(s) -
PALMER JAMES O.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1983.tb00348.x
Subject(s) - biology , photoperiodism , diapause , reproduction , larva , population , instar , zoology , botany , ecology , demography , sociology
. Photoperiod significantly affected reproduction in a central Texas population of the milkweed leaf beetle Labidomera clivicollis (Kirby) (Chrysomelidae). Laboratory reared beetles responded to a critical photoperiod of LD 12.5: 11.5; longer photoperiods induced reproduction, while shorter photoperiods induced diapause. Both larval and adult stages exhibited sensitivity to photoperiod. Beetles exposed to long days as adults reproduced regardless of photoperiod experienced as larvae. However, exposure to long days, as larvae but short days as adults also induced reproduction in an intermediate portion of the population. No larval instar appeared to be more sensitive than the others, and the proportion of the population responding did not increase with cumulative larval exposure to long days. Larval sensitivity to photoperiod may be ecologically significant to central Texas populations because it permits a substantial portion of the autumn generation to initiate a third generation in favourable years.