Empirical Analysis of Variable Temperature Regimes on Life Stage Development and Population Growth of Tetranychus mcdanieli (Acarina: Tetranychidae)1

Abstract

Life stage developmental studies of the McDaniel spider mite, Tetranychus mcdanieli McGregor, were conducted under both alternating temperature regimes and naturally varying diurnal temperatures. A model, describing T. mcdanieli development under variable temperature patterns, was derived from life stage regression equations previously reported for constant temperature regimes. When rounded to the nearest quarter day, maximum deviation of model estimates from observed values for ♀ egg to egg development was ±0.25 day at the temperatures utilized in this study. Furthermore, the reported close correlation between r_m and developmental time, under static temperatures favorable for T. mcdanieli survival, was extended to a model relating r_m to variable temperature patterns.