Premium
Water balance in the sugarbeet root maggot Tetanops myopaeformis , during long‐term low‐temperature storage and after freezing
Author(s) -
YOCUM GEORGE D.,
RINEHART JOSEPH P.,
BOETEL MARK A.
Publication year - 2012
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.1365-3032.2012.00848.x
Subject(s) - biology , larva , diapause , maggot , microclimate , zoology , desiccation , dehydration , horticulture , botany , ecology , biochemistry
The sugarbeet root maggot Tetanops myopaeformis Röder (Diptera: Ulidiidae) can be stored in moist sand at 4–6 °C for up to 5 years and is freeze‐tolerant. The majority of stored larvae survive in a state of post‐diapause quiescence and the remainder are in a multi‐year diapause. The present study aims to determine larval water content and water loss rates in diapausing and low‐temperature stored larvae. Body water content ranges from 57% to 70.1%. Two distinct groupings of larvae are revealed based on dry weights. The first group consists of the diapausing larvae and larvae stored for 1 year. This group has significantly higher dry weights than the second grouping, which consists of the larvae stored for 2 and 3 years. There are no significant differences within each group. Larval water losses follow a first‐order kinetic relationship with time. Larvae stored for 2 years lose water at a significantly higher rate than diapausing larvae. Larvae exhibit no active water uptake at storage temperatures. A freezing event does not induce a significant decrease in wet weights, nor does it increase larval water loss rates. These results indicate that metabolic water and the microclimate during storage are key factors enabling the long‐term survival of T. myopaeformis larvae during low‐temperature storage, and may provide insights for maintaining other insect species under similar conditions.