Meeting Abstract

98.10  Thursday, Jan. 7  Fried eggs: long-term consequences of egg temperature for insects POTTER, K. A.*; DAVIDOWITZ, G.; WOODS, H. A.; University of Arizona, Tucson; University of Arizona, Tucson; University of Montana, Missoula kap15@email.arizona.edu

While insects are well-known for their sophisticated mechanisms of temperature control, all insects begin life as eggs, at which point they lack the ability to thermoregulate and are isothermal with their surrounding microenvironment. While we understand much about the thermal biology of larvae and adults, the ubiquitous egg stage has been relatively neglected. How do eggs survive in thermally-stressful environments? Does temperature during the egg stage have long-term consequences for an individual’s performance? We are examining these questions in the context of a plant-insect relationship in southeastern AZ (Datura wrightii – Manduca sexta). Insect eggs that are laid on leaves experience a thermal microenvironment, and thus a body temperature, that is strongly influenced by the leaves themselves. Here we examine whether D. wrightii leaves buffer eggs from extreme ambient temperatures, and how that buffering benefits eggs. We found that D. wrightii leaves protect M. sexta eggs from fatally high ambient temperatures. However, small differences in leaf temperature profiles cause large variation in embryo metabolism and development, and this embryonic experience continues to have long-term effects through adulthood.