Experimental Tests of Developmental and Cross-Generational Effects of Temperature

小行星9514205 条件 经历了一个发展中的 昆虫 通常会影响其成年后的大小和表现。 例如，食物水平和拥挤对成年昆虫的大小和繁殖有深远的影响。 因此，考虑到这些问题的重要性， “发育效应”是理解自然界昆虫生态学的关键。 此外，这些发展的影响的知识可以有效地用于设计最佳的大量饲养昆虫的协议，经常在生物防治计划。 本项目将探讨 发育 温度对 成人 水果 果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）。 已知发育期间（幼虫和蛹阶段）经历的温度会影响成年昆虫生物学的许多方面，但实际影响也可能取决于成年昆虫经历的温度。 这个项目使用了一个复杂的实验 设计 的 独立 操纵发育和成年苍蝇的温度，然后测试几个相互竞争的假设。 一只成年昆虫不仅受到其自身发育期间所经历的温度的影响， 发展，但有时也 通过 它的父母所经历的温度。 该项目将同样确定这种“跨代”影响对后代的重要性。 这个项目的结果将阐明昆虫学中的一个基本问题--即，昆虫的表现在多大程度上是敏感的 在早期发育阶段和父母所经历的条件。 此外，从这项研究中得到的信息将表明是否质量控制程序中使用的大量饲养的昆虫应纳入温度作为一个动态变量的研究。

9514205 Huey Conditions experienced by a developing insect often influence its size and performance as an adult. For example, food levels and crowding have profound effects on size and reproduction of adult insects. Consequently, a consideration of the importance of these "developmental effects" is crucial to understanding the ecology of insects in nature. Moreover, knowledge of these developmental effects can be used effectively in designing protocols for optimal mass-rearing of insects, as is often done in biocontrol programs. This project will explore the effect of developmental temperature on adult fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). The temperature experienced during development (larval and pupal stages) is known to influence many aspects of an adult insect's biology, but the actual impact may depend as well on the temperatures experienced as an adult. This project uses a complex experimental design that independently manipulates temperatures of both developing and adult flies, and then tests several competing hypotheses. An adult insect is influenced not only by temperatures experienced during its own development, but sometimes also by temperatures experienced by its parents. This project will similarly determine the significance of such "cross-generational" effects on offspring. The results of this project will elucidate a basic issue in entomology - namely, to what extent is the performance of an insect sensitive to conditions experienced by itself at earlier developmental stages and by its parents. Moreover, information derived from this study will indicate whether quality control programs used in mass-rearing of insects should incorporate temperature as a dynamic variable for study.