QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY 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 signiÞcant pest of small grains in theUnited States andworldwide. 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. SpeciÞcally, 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 thresholdwas calculated as 0.69 C.Modeled longevity reached its maximum at 80 d.Meta-analysis indicatesmaximum fecundity at 18.5 C,with amaximum 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 Rhopalosiphum padi L., but at a similar rate to Sitobian avenae (F.).