Flight and Reproduction Variations of Rice Leaf Roller, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis in Response to Different Rearing Temperatures

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Temperature directly affects the development, adult reproduction, and flight capacity in migratory insects. However, the adaptive strategies applied by some migratory insects to cope with stressful temperatures throughout their life cycles are not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the effects of rearing temperatures in the immature stage (from egg to pupae stage) on the immature development, adult reproduction flight ability, and migratory behavior of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, one major facultative long-distance migratory pest feeding on rice. Our data suggest that immature C. medinalis that experienced different rearing temperatures had different developmental, reproductive, and migration patterns. Cnaphalocrocis medinalis reared under high temperatures had weaker reproductive capacity and stronger flight potentiality, which might be more likely to trigger the migration. However, those reared at low temperatures in the immature stage had an accelerated reproduction but relative weaker flight ability, which might weaken the migratory motivation of adults. ABSTRACT: Understanding how species that follow different life-history strategies respond to stressful temperature can be essential for efficient treatments of agricultural pests. Here, we focused on how the development, reproduction, flight, and reproductive consequences of migration of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis were influenced by exposure to different rearing temperatures in the immature stage. We found that the immature rice leaf roller that were reared at low temperatures (18 and 22 °C) developed more slowly than the normal temperature 26 °C, while those reared at high temperatures (34 °C) grew faster. Female adults from low immature stage rearing temperatures showed stronger reproductive ability than those at 26 and 34 °C, such as the preoviposition period (POP) significantly decreased, while the total lifetime fecundity obviously increased. However, 34 °C did not significantly reduce the reproductive performances of females compared to 26 °C. On the contrary, one relative decreased tendency of flight capacity was found in the lower immature temperature treatments. Furthermore, flight is a costly strategy for reproduction output to compete for limited internal resources. In the lower temperature treatments, after d1-tethered flight treatment, negative reproductive consequences were found that flight significantly decreased the lifetime fecundity and mating frequency of females from low rearing temperatures in the immature stage compared to the controls (no tethered-flight). However, in the 26 and 34 °C treatments, the same flight treatment induced a positive influence on reproduction, which significantly reduced the POP and period of first oviposition (PFO). The results suggest that the experience of relative high temperatures in the immature stage is more likely to trigger the onset of migration, but lower temperatures in the immature stage may induce adults to have a greater resident propensity with stronger reproductive ability.