Soil moisture conditions determine phenology and success of larval escape in the peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii (Lepidoptera, Carposinidae): Implications for predicting drought effects on a diapausing insect

Abstract

Global climate change is expected to alter precipitation variability and exacerbate the impact of drought on species. Diapausing insects spending most of their lifetime in soil may be particularly vulnerable to changes in precipitation and soil moisture conditions, but few studies have examined the impacts of changing precipitation variability on this group. Here we investigated this issue in the peach fruit moth Carposina sasakii, one of the most destructive insect pests in orchards in East Asia. We first tested the effects of different levels of soil moisture on the timing and success of larval escape. We then investigated how larval escape is affected by the changes in the persistence of ..