Invasive Insects Differ from Non-Invasive in Their Thermal Requirements.

ABSTRACT: We tested whether two basic thermal requirements for insect development, lower developmental thresholds, i.e. temperatures at which development ceases, and sums of effective temperatures, i.e. numbers of day degrees above the lower developmental thresholds necessary to complete development, differ among insect species that proved to be successful invaders in regions outside their native range and those that did not. Focusing on species traits underlying invasiveness that are related to temperature provides insights into the mechanisms of insect invasions. The screening of thermal requirements thus could improve risk-assessment schemes by incorporating these traits in predictions of potentially invasive insect species. We compared 100 pairs of taxonomically-related species originating from

SUBMITTER: Jarosik V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4475049 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature