Phenotypic plasticity of a winter-diapause mechanism copes with the effects of summer global warming in an ectothermic predator.

To adapt to changes in temperature, animals tend to invest more energy in thermal tolerance to enhance survival, which can have simultaneous costs on plastic traits. Would a decrease in genetic variability, due to global warming, affect the ability of populations with existing metabolic regulatory mechanisms to cope with extreme temperatures? To address this question, we conducted a series of experiments based on the A1B scenario of global warming, assessing within-population genetic variance in (a) morphological traits, (b) metabolic rate allometries, and (c) survival of a winter-diapausing predator ectotherm. Our study focused on the lacewing species Chrysoperla pallida, using both exogamic and endogamic artificial genetic lines. We discovered that both lines use their winter-diapausing phenotype to adapt to summer extreme temperatures caused by extreme heating conditions, but the exogamic line is prone to express phenotypic plasticity in metabolic scaling, with a trade-off between body size and mandible size, i.e. larger individuals tended to develop smaller mandibles to better survive. These findings highlight the significance of substantial phenotypic plasticity and pre-existing metabolic regulatory mechanisms in enabling ectotherms to cope with potential extreme heating occurring in global warming.

The Influence of Planting Periods on Herbivore and Natural Enemy Abundance on Yellow Sticky Traps in Bt Maize Fields.

Knowledge of the insect densities during crop development is necessary for adopting appropriate measures for the control of insect pests and minimizing yield losses. Within integrated pest management programs, crop rotation has been carried out in recent years, but this current trend delays the planting period for Bt maize. The small amount of available information regarding the influence of sowing Bt maize early or late on the seasonal abundance of herbivores prompted us to study these aspects in two current common planting periods in northeastern Spain in 52 maize fields over three consecutive years. We sampled the fields planted on different dates with sticky yellow traps. Our results show that only the abundances of herbivore thrips, other than Frankliniella occidentalis, and Syrphidae were significantly different between the two planting periods. Moreover, when we performed yearly analyses, we found significant effects of the planting period on Coccinellidae and Chrysopidae in 2015 and on Aeolothrips sp. in 2016 and 2017. In most of the taxa, the abundance peaks in earlier growth stages, which is related to pollination (before or during). Only the abundances of Stethorus punctillum and Syrphidae peak later in the season. In addition, F. occidentalis, aphids, Syrphidae, and Coccinellidae registered higher abundance in fields sown in the late planting period. These results highlight the effects of sowing in different planting periods on insect dynamics in Bt maize and can be used to identify the abundance of certain pests and natural enemies in specific phenological stages of maize, which may allow producers to adopt better-integrated management and thus avoid reaching the level of economic damage.