Variations in the tendency to diapause among successive generations of laboratory strains of Trichogramma species (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae): Endogenous or exogenous?

Variations in the tendency to diapause among successive generations of laboratory strains reared under constant conditions were reported for many insects and mites. However, as far as we know, the relative importance of the endogenous and exogenous components of this variability has not been investigated experimentally. We have conducted such a study with 12 successive generations of laboratory strains of Trichogramma telengai Sor. and T. principium Sug. et Sor. In total, 12 strains originated from different females and / or reared under different photothermal conditions (temperature of 20 and 25°C and day length of 12 and 18 h) were investigated. The tendency to diapause was estimated by the proportion of the progeny diapausing at temperatures of 13, 14 and 15°C. Although the variations in the tendency to diapause in sequential generations of different strains of the same species were positively correlated, the correlation between different species was also very strong suggesting that endogenous (species-specific) factors are not the main reason for the observed changes. The data for different photothermal conditions of incubation of the studied strains and of their progeny were also correlated suggesting that occasional changes in temperature or day length are not the reason of the changes in the proportion of diapausing progeny. Evidently, the differences in the tendency to diapause among generations of the studied Trichogramma species were mainly caused by some uncontrolled environmental factors. This in no way excludes the possible role of the endogenous processes, but suggests the necessity for a critical analysis of the available data on the “spontaneous” dynamics in the tendency to diapause among successive generations of the laboratory strains of insects and mites.