Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

ORCID

N/A

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Entomology

Degree Type

Master of Science (M.S.)

Year Degree Awarded

2014

Month Degree Awarded

September

Abstract

Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to elucidate various factors influencing the temperature-dependent larval eclosion of winter moth, Operophtera brumata L, in New England. We found no difference in duration of the embryonic stage of eggs reared from larvae collected in Massachusetts (MA) and on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC), where winter temperatures are rarely below freezing. The number of growing degree days (GDD) required for larval eclosion declined with the number of days chilled in the laboratory and number of days below freezing in the field, confirming the findings of previous studies. Thus, eggs hatched with fewer GDD, when the spring came later than usual. Date of oviposition had no effect on date of hatch. Eggs laid by naturally occurring (feral) females hatched sooner with lower GDD than eggs from laboratory-reared females from MA and BC held on the same trees over the winter. South-facing eggs on the stems of trees hatched on average 1.6 days sooner than north-facing eggs. Growing degree days calculated from bi-hourly measures of temperature were 15% greater than GDD estimates based on the average of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, as used by many GDD estimates made for online sources. Over two years, the mean GDD in ⁰C for hatch of feral eggs based on bihourly temperature measurements, a 1 Jan start date and a 3.9⁰C developmental threshold was 176.53 ± 6.35SE

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/6050493

First Advisor

Joseph S. Elkinton

Download

Included in

Entomology Commons

Share

COinS