Production of males and gynoparae by apterous viviparae of Myzus persicae continuously exposed to different scotoperiods

At 18–19°C, apterous viviparae of a holocyclic strain of Myzus persicae raised from birth under constant scotoperiods of 9 hr 26 min–15 hr darkness per diem deposited apterous viviparae, alate viviparae, and males, in that sequence. Under the shortest scotoperiod (9 hr 26 min) in which males were recorded, only a few were deposited at the end of reproduction. With increasing duration of the scotoperiods, the aphids switched to the exclusive deposition of males progressively earlier in their reproductive lives. Thus more males and fewer females were produced; however the proportion of wingless females increased. Similar trends were recorded when the number of prenatal exposures to each scotoperiod was increased from 0 to 7. Alatae developed into gynoparae at scotoperiods of 10 hr 29 min or longer, and into virginoparae at 9 hr 40 min or shorter scotoperiods. Gynoparae and alate virginoparae, as well as alates that produced both oviparae and viviparae were found at 10 hr and 10 hr 15 min. When apterous viviparae were transferred to scotoperiods of 10 hr 29 min or 15 hr only when they attained adulthood, they also deposited males but only toward the end of their reproductive lives.