Wilma. V. Aponte-Cordero, wva102@psu.edu, Dennis D. Calvin, ifa@psu.edu, and Michael C. Saunders, mcs5@psu.edu. Pennsylvania State University, Entomology Department, 501 ASI Building, University Park, PA
The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, is an economic
pest of soybean plants across all midwestern states including
Pennsylvania. High population of
soybean aphids can cause up to 20% yield loss.
Although the pest has a heteroecious holocyclic life cycle, the summer
parthenogenic form is responsible for crop injury. This research is focused on understanding how temperature
influences the development of parthenogenic soybean aphids. Soybean aphid development was observed under
five temperatures (32˚C, 30˚C, 25˚C, 22˚C, and 16˚C)
in growth chamber settings at 16:8 (L:D) hr. photoperiod and 50±10% ambient
RH. Neonate borne nymphs were
placed on the youngest trifoliate leaf of a three-week-old soybean plant and the leaf was
enclosed within a 60 x 15 mm Petri plate, without the removal of the leaf from
the soybean plant. Nymphal
development was observed every 12±2 hours until adulthood, then every 24±2
hours. The number of nymphal molts, number of
offspring, and longevity were collected daily until soybean aphid death. The average number of molts per nymph was 4
across all temperatures. Nymphal
development to adulthood occurred fastest at 30˚C. Maximum adult longevity of soybean aphids
was observed at 25˚C.
Species 1: Hemiptera Aphididae
Aphis glycines (Soybean aphid)
Keywords: Insect development, Life history
Recorded presentation