Web introduction for the Insect Development Database (IDD)
Temperature plays a critical role in insect development and thus can be utilized to aid the scouting, detection and management of insect pests. At given temperatures, development and phenology rate varies amongest insects and can be predicted using specific thermal parameters. These parameters are an insect’s development temperatures (critical temperatures at which an insect stops developing) and degree-day requirements (accumulated degree-day units required to complete an insect’s generation).
Commonly, insect developmental parameters are used to create degree-day models for integrated pest management. Another use of developmental parameters is to create risk maps for exotic or invasive pests. The North Carolina State University-APHIS Plant Pest Forecast (NAPPFAST) system is a multipurpose tool that incorporates North American climate data with biological models to produce customized risk maps for exotic pests. These maps define a species geographic and climatic range and can predict its stage of development for a specific North American location. NAPPFAST is also used in the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program for developing survey prediction maps.
A limitation to using NAPPFAST is
the lack of a comprehensive database of insect development data. Thus a
cooperative project was undertaken between the
Some of the insect species contained in the Insect Development Database are also listed in the Global Pest and Disease Database (GPDD). The GPDD contains comprehensive information of invasive pests of key concern to the United States Department of Agriculture. It serves as a secure electronic warehouse or library of scientific information about exotic pests that is used to support the Agency’s pest lists.
The Insect Development Database was produced from data available in current literature. An on-line search of literature published between the years 1972-2004 was undertaken to identify studies which investigated the effect of temperature on insect development. These papers, mainly published in entomology journals were then assessed and data relating to development thresholds and degree-day requirements were incorporated into the Insect Development Database. The database comprised various data fields, including;
Values for these fields were also calculated using experimental data from the published studies. In papers where insect rate of development (in days) was evaluated across a variety of experimental constant temperatures, rate of development (1/number of days of development) was plotted against temperature and an equation describing linear regression was used to calculate developmental threshold temperatures (x-intercept of the linear equation) and degree-day requirements (inverse of the slope).
Alternatively, in studies where base developmental threshold had already been determined, degree-day requirements were calculated using the formula; C= D(T-K) where C= degree days (°C), D= developmental duration (days), T= experimental constant temperature (°C) and K= base development threshold (°C). For some insects, development data was also sourced from the University of California Statewide IPM program.
In addition to the data recorded for each insect, a citation of the reference source, its abstract and a PDF copy of the paper was also included in the Insect Development Database. Insects were classified according to taxonomic classification using the 2004 CAB International Crop Protection Compendium.
Disclaimer
The data presented in the Insect Development Database consists of information that is widely available to the general public. As such, the Insect Development Database makes no claims to their validity or accuracy.