Reznik, S. Y., Ovchinnikov, A. N., Dolgovskaya, M. Y., & Belyakova, N. A. (2015). Interspecific variation in photoperiodic effect on the rate of preimaginal development in Harmonia axyridis (Pallas)(Coleoptera, Coccinellidae).Entomological Review, 95(1), 15-27.

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The effects of day length on preimaginal development and reproductive maturation of females of laboratory strains which originated from two native: Irkutsk (Siberia, Russia) and Daegu (South Korea) and two invasive: Sochi (Caucasus, Russia) and Pardubice (Czechia) populations of Harmonia axyridis were investigated under the laboratory conditions. In all the 4 strains, the acceleration of development caused by the short day (all other conditions being equal) was relatively stronger in those larvae that later, at the adult stage, delayed reproductive maturation. This correlation can be considered as an indirect proof that both reactions are based on the common physiological mechanism. However, comparison of the parameters of photoperiodic responses showed that although the photoperiodic effect on reproductive maturation in individuals from Sochi and Pardubice invasive populations was relatively weak, the effect of day length on the rate of their preimaginal development was even somewhat stronger than that of individuals from Irkutsk and Daegu native populations. This uncorrelated interpopulation variation of the quantitative and qualitative photoperiodic responses suggests that in spite of the common physiological mechanism, the responses influencing preimaginal development and reproductive maturation of H. axyridis are to a certain extent independent and thus the evolution of their parameters (in particular, adaptation to new climate conditions) occurs independently.