Influences of temperature on Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) survival under various feeding conditions

Survival of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), was studied under various constant temperatures and feeding conditions. When provided a host plant (Citrus limon L. Burm. f.) to feed on during a 21-d trial, 100% mortality occurred at 0.1, 3.2, and 40.1 degrees C, whereas an average of 74-76% of adults survived in the 13.2-24.5 degrees C range. When individually confined with moist cotton, adult longevity was greatest (16.3 d) at 13.3 degrees C, but it was <3 d at -2.4 and 36.2 degrees C. In a companion study comparing the presence versus absence of a host plant, the presence of a host plant was not a significant factor influencing survival at temperatures < or =7.8 degrees C but was at temperatures > or =18.9 degrees C. The relationship between temperature and survival was described by a nonlinear function that estimated the optimum temperature in each feeding regimen: no host plant or moist cotton (5.5 degrees C), moist cotton (9.9 degrees C), and accessible host plant (25.1 degrees C). The model quantitatively predicted that H. vitripennis would survive longer periods at a wider temperature regimen when provided with a host plant than when provided with water alone (moist cotton) or when provided with neither plant host nor water. Our results suggest that continuous exposure to either low (<5 degrees C) or high (>30 degrees C) temperatures are detrimental for adult survival. Specifically, low temperatures caused early mortality because of inhibition of feeding activity and presumably this threshold lies between 7.8 and 13.2 degrees C. Furthermore, this study clearly shows that temperature may influence the survival of H. vitripennis adults regardless of feeding regimens, and its implications for population dynamics are discussed.