abstract: Leptopterna dolobrata (L.) (Holarctis) and Calocoris roseomaculatus (De Geer) (Palaearctis) are single-brooded in the whole range of their distribution and hibernate in the egg stage. Both species are active only for 21/2 months, while the egg stage lasts over 9 months.The main food plants of Leptopterna are Dactylis glomerata and Alopecurus pratensis. Whereas the instars I-III feed on the ears of the grasses only, the later stages, including the adults, may change to the stems and leaves. In the field the bugs settle on other grass species when the blossoms of Dactylis and Alopecurus are exhausted. Because of the position of the eggs in the interior of the grass stem the serosal cuticle must lengthen to permit the process of hatching.The course of development is not influenced by the photoperiod.Dormancy during embryogenesis of Leptopterna always occurs before unfolding of the embryo. In the field this stage is already reached at the end of July. The initiation of dormancy does not depend on external factors and therefore belongs to the obligatory type of diapause. Four phases of diapause can be distinghished: prae-, meso-, meta-and postdiapause. Only during the meso-and metadiapause is development arrested. It could be shown that in mesodiapause temperatures between-1° and +16° C on the deviation of this stage, which lasts about 6 months, had no influence. The metadiapause is an interphase before the normal development of the postdiapause: it is favoured by temperatures below +10°C whereas higher temperatures are injurious. At constant temperatures complete development of the egg stage is only possible in the small range from +10° to 16° C owing to the different temperature reactions of the 4 phases of diapause. The protracted egg diapause synchronizes the appearance of larvae and adults with their food plants.At different constant temperatures in the range of +10° to 28° C larval development follows the formula of the time-temperature hyperbola with the threshold of development at +5° C. Alternating temperatures accelerate larval development as compared with corresponding constant temperatures. At +10° C only a few larvae reach the adult stage, but their gonads do not ripen.The egg diapause of Calocoris, too, lasts more than 9 months. The species differ only in the length of their temperature independent mesodiapause (Leptopterna: 180 days, Calocoris: 84 days).A new system of the main types of insect dormancy is given.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Ökologie, Zoologisches Institut der Universität Kiel, Kiel, Deutschland.
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Braune