Characteristics of summer diapause in the onion maggot, Delia antiqua (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)

Abstract

Characteristics of summer diapause in the onion maggot, Delia antiqua, were clarified by laboratory experiments. Temperature was the primary factor for the induction of summer diapause in this species. The critical temperature for diapause induction was approximately 24 degrees C, regardless of the photoperiod. At 23 degrees C, the development of the diapausing pupae was arrested the day after pupariation, when about 7% of the total pupal development had occurred in terms of total effective temperature (degree-days). The most sensitive period for temperature with regard to diapause induction was estimated to be between pupariation and "pupation" (i.e., evagination of the head in cyclorrhaphous flies). Completion of diapause occurred at a wide range of temperatures (4-25 degrees C): The optimal temperature was approximately 16 degrees C, at which temperature only five days were required for diapause completion. The characteristics of summer diapause in D. antiqua are discussed in comparison with those of summer dormancy in a congener D. radicum and those of winter diapause in D. antiqua.