How to translate text using browser tools
25 May 2023 Larval and Pupal Silk Variation in the Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella): the Impact of Overcrowding and Temperature
Toshita V. Barve, R. Keating Godfrey, Caroline G. Storer, Akito Y. Kawahara
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) is becoming an important biological model to study silk. While there are many potential applications to materials science and medicine, many aspects of silk production in this species remain unknown. Here we characterize the silk of P. interpunctella by measuring the width of larval wandering and pupal silk strands and find that the latter is significantly thicker than the former. We also report intraspecific variation in pupal silk production in our lab-reared colony with a very small number of individuals forgoing pupal silk production entirely (< 4%). Overcrowding had no effect on silk formation, but exposure to elevated temperature reduced pupal silk production.

Toshita V. Barve, R. Keating Godfrey, Caroline G. Storer, and Akito Y. Kawahara "Larval and Pupal Silk Variation in the Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella): the Impact of Overcrowding and Temperature," The Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 77(2), 116-121, (25 May 2023). https://doi.org/10.18473/lepi.77i2.a5
Received: 11 October 2022; Accepted: 2 January 2023; Published: 25 May 2023
JOURNAL ARTICLE
6 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Indian meal moth
larva
pest
phenotype
Pyralidae
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top