Diuraphis noxia Reproduction and Development with a Comparison of Intrinsic Rates of Increase to Other Important Small Grain Aphids: A Meta-Analysis

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), is a significant pest of small grains in the United States and worldwide. There is an increasing need for quality population dynamic models to aid in development of integrated pest management strategies. Unfortunately, there exists high variability in published data regarding basic life history traits that frequently direct model parameterization. Metadata were analyzed to develop relationships between temperature and reproductive and developmental traits of D. noxia. Specifically, functions were developed between temperature and the following traits: lifespan, fecundity, fecundity rate, pre-nymphipositional period, reproductive period, and intrinsic rate of increase. Lower and upper temperature reproductive thresholds were calculated as 0.6 and 36.9°C, respectively. The lower temperature developmental threshold was calculated as -0.69°C. Modeled longevity reached its maximum at ≈80 d. Meta-analysis indicates maximum fecundity at ≈18.5°C, with a maximum fecundity rate of ≈2.1 nymphs per day over the nymphipositional period. The calculated maximum total fecundity was ≈55 nymphs per female. The maximum reproductive period was calculated to be 29.9 d. Compared with other aphid species, as temperature increased, the intrinsic rate of increase of D. noxia increased more slowly relative to Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) and Bhopalosiphum padi L., but at a similar rate to Sitobian avenae (F.).