Expression of alternative developmental pathways in the cabbage butterfly, Pieris melete and their differences in life history traits.

ABSTRACT: The seasonal life cycle of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris melete is complicated because there are three options for pupal development: summer diapause, winter diapause, and nondiapause. In the present study, we tested the influence of temperature, day length, and seasonality on the expression of alternative developmental pathways and compared the differences in life history traits between diapausing and directly developing individuals under laboratory and field conditions. The expression of developmental pathway strongly depended on temperature, day length, and seasonality. Low temperatures induced almost all individuals to enter diapause regardless of day length; relatively high temperatures combined with intermediate and longer day lengths resulted in most individuals developing wi

SUBMITTER: Tang JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6854102 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature