Temperature-based models of development for the gypsy moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) predator, Calosoma sycophanta (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Three models (linear, third-degree polynomial, and one based on enzyme kinetics) were used to simulate the dependence of Calosoma sycophanta L. developmental rate on temperature. In conjunction with a model of individual differences in development based on the Weibull distribution, the models were used to predict development of C. sycophanta at fluctuating temperatures in a greenhouse and in nature. In the greenhouse, the reaction-rate model based on enzyme kinetics was most consistently correct. Simulated development was 1-2 d faster than actual, but this may have been partly because of the large fraction of time greenhouse temperatures were below 20 degrees C. Simulations for one set of field data had to be adjusted for the time of larval hatch, but the same adjustment gave a good simulation of independent data. One or more of the temperature-based models, in conjunction with other studies on food consumption, may prove useful in measuring the effect of this predator on gypsy moths