Rice Planthopper Population Dynamics: A Comparison between Temperate and Tropical Regions

Abstract

Situations in which insect habitats provide continuously favorable physical and biological conditions for population growth in both space and time are rare. For the vast majority of species, population continuity is achieved through one or both of two basic mechanisms: the ability to survive unfavourable conditions through diapause and sufficient mobility to permit the species to track spatial displacement of the requisite habitat conditions in time (Southwood 1962, 1977a; Dingle 1972; Denno 1983). The former is normally the realized solution under temperate conditions where low temperature is often the critical factor, favoring reduction of metabolic processes to a minimum for survival.