Effect of Temperature on the Nutritional Requirements of an Insect, Pseudosarcophaga affinis Auct. nec Fallén (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), and Its Probable Ecological Significance

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Abstract
A repeated feeding experiment, factorially designed, showed that the effects of various dietary levels of glucose and of thiamine on the growth and development of axenically reared fly larvae, Pseudosarcophaga affinis Auct. nee Fallén, depended on the environmental temperature and the balance of nutrients, especially involving glucose. The rates of growth and development on chemically defined diets increased as the concentration of thiamine was increased through 3 levels, but other relations to thiamine could not be shown. The rates of growth and development decreased as the dietary concentration of glucose was increased through 0%, 0.75%, 1.5%, to 2.25%, respectively. However, with 0% of glucose the rate at 30°C was superior to that at 20°C, whereas with 2.25% of glucose the trend had reversed so that the rate at 30 °C was inferior to that at 20°C. This adds a new dimension to the application of the principles of insect nutrition with probable ecological significance. It shows how interrelations between an insect's diet, metabolism, and environmental temperature can affect its rate of maturation, and indicates how an insect's establishment in natural surrounding may be affected, perhaps selectively.

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