Ecological Notes on Diapause and Overwintering of the Allium Leafminer, Acrolepiopsis sapporensis (Matsumura) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in Northern Japan

Abstract

Diapause features were investigated in adults of the allium leafminer, Acrolepiopsis sapporensis (Matsumura). Ovaries did not develop at all under conditions of 16 h light/8 h dark at 25°C in adult females of the last generation in A. sapporensis. This suggests that A. sapporensis enters diapause in the adult stage. In addition, we examined overwintering of A. sapporensis. Adults survived for 129 days at low temperature (0°C), and the cold hardiness of A. sapporensis was higher than that of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.). Some adults of A. sapporensis also survived to the end of March under outdoor conditions. These results indicate that A. sapporensis may overwinter during the adult stage in northern Japan.