Lopatina E.B. 2018. [A review of plasticity of the thermal reaction standards in insect development] // Euroasian Entomological Journal. Vol.17. No.1: 63–73 [in Russian, with English summary].
Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaia nab. 7/9, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation 199034.
Е-mаil: elena.lopatina@gmail.com
doi: 10.15298/euroasentj.17.1.07
ABSTRACT. Temperature has the greatest effect on the developmental time of ectothermic organisms. The developmental rate (the reciprocal of the developmental time) shows a linear dependence on temperature under favourable temperature conditions. The graph of the linear regression equation of the developmental rate on temperature crosses the abscissa axis at the threshold point. The regression coefficient (or thermal sensitivity coefficient) determines the slope of the regression line to the abscissa axis which is higher if the thermal sensitivity of development is high. Abiotic and biotic environmental factors modify the thermal reaction norms for development (TRND), thereby altering the temperature threshold and thermal sensitivity coefficient. In this paper the forms of plasticity of TRND in insects, revealed on the basis of the results of the author’s experiments and mathematical processing of literary data, are considered. It is concluded that photoperiodic modification of TRND is a specific form of regulation of seasonal cycles in insects.
KEY WORDS: insects, temperature, photoperiod, developmental time, thermal threshold, thermal sensitivity.