9514205 Huey Conditions experienced by a developing insect often influence its size and performance as an adult. For example, food levels and crowding have profound effects on size and reproduction of adult insects. Consequently, a consideration of the importance of these "developmental effects" is crucial to understanding the ecology of insects in nature. Moreover, knowledge of these developmental effects can be used effectively in designing protocols for optimal mass-rearing of insects, as is often done in biocontrol programs. This project will explore the effect of developmental temperature on adult fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). The temperature experienced during development (larval and pupal stages) is known to influence many aspects of an adult insect's biology, but the actual impact may depend as well on the temperatures experienced as an adult. This project uses a complex experimental design that independently manipulates temperatures of both developing and adult flies, and then tests several competing hypotheses. An adult insect is influenced not only by temperatures experienced during its own development, but sometimes also by temperatures experienced by its parents. This project will similarly determine the significance of such "cross-generational" effects on offspring. The results of this project will elucidate a basic issue in entomology - namely, to what extent is the performance of an insect sensitive to conditions experienced by itself at earlier developmental stages and by its parents. Moreover, information derived from this study will indicate whether quality control programs used in mass-rearing of insects should incorporate temperature as a dynamic variable for study.
