Gu Licheng, Wu Zhiwei, Wu Xiaotong, Zhou Yuenan, Yang Pei, Ye Xiqian, Shi Min, Huang Jianhua, Chen Xuexin
Institute of Insect Science, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Insects. 2022 Mar 15;13(3):289. doi: 10.3390/insects13030289.
The molting process of the lepidopteran insects is observed for many species. However, the detailed description of the morphological transformation and behavioral sequence during molting are rarely provided and visualized. Here, we described the molting process of the diamondback moth by providing the duration and photographic details of staging criteria of each stage using stereo microscopy and a digital video camera. We divided the morphological transformation of egg development and hatching into five stages, the larval-larval ecdysis and the larval-pupal metamorphosis into five stages, the pupal development and eclosion into three stages, and the post-eclosion behavior into four stages. Several new characters in the molting process that were not previously described in other lepidopteran insects were found, i.e., the larvae contracted anterior-posteriorly then dorsal-ventrally during pre-ecdysis, and the antennae waved backward then forward in the post-eclosion behavior. Our findings will deepen the knowledge of the molting biology of lepidopteran insects and facilitate the study of the underlying mechanisms.
许多鳞翅目昆虫的蜕皮过程都得到了观察。然而，很少有研究提供并可视化蜕皮过程中形态转变和行为序列的详细描述。在此，我们通过使用立体显微镜和数码摄像机，提供了小菜蛾各阶段分期标准的持续时间和照片细节，描述了小菜蛾的蜕皮过程。我们将卵发育和孵化的形态转变分为五个阶段，幼虫 - 幼虫蜕皮和幼虫 - 蛹变态分为五个阶段，蛹发育和羽化分为三个阶段，羽化后行为分为四个阶段。我们发现了蜕皮过程中一些以前在其他鳞翅目昆虫中未描述过的新特征，即幼虫在蜕皮前先前后收缩然后背腹收缩，并且在羽化后行为中触角先向后摆动然后向前摆动。我们的研究结果将加深对鳞翅目昆虫蜕皮生物学的认识，并促进对其潜在机制的研究。
