Studies in the lab have demonstrated that evaluating the effect of soil moisture and other variables is essential for understanding the importance of environmental factors influencing the Heliothinae pupal stage, but simulated field studies are conducted infrequently. We compared the pupation of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under saturated and unsaturated conditions across 3 distinct soil types (coarse sand, high organic muck, and fine-textured clay) and observed adult emergence, as well as pupal depth and weight. The interaction between soil type and moisture had a significant effect on adult emergence. Fewer adults emerged from dry fine-textured clay soil than from dry coarse sand and high organic muck. However, there was no effect of soil type and no interaction between soil and moisture on pupal depth. Soil moisture was the primary driver of pupal depth, suggesting prepupae use moisture to mediate their position within the pupal chamber. In addition, pupal weight was unrelated to soil type, moisture, or their interaction. Our study demonstrates that soil moisture can be a greater driver of H. zea pupation than soil type, but additional observations are necessary to understand the mechanism by which moisture impacts pupation.

中文翻译：

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水分和土壤类型是玉米夜蛾（鳞翅目：夜蛾科）化蛹的主要驱动因素

实验室研究表明，评估土壤湿度和其他变量的影响对于了解影响夜蛾蛹阶段的环境因素的重要性至关重要，但很少进行模拟实地研究。我们比较了Helicoverpa zea (Boddie)（鳞翅目：夜蛾科）在3种不同土壤类型（粗沙、高有机淤泥和细质地粘土）的饱和和非饱和条件下的化蛹情况，并观察了成虫的羽化情况以及蛹的深度和大小。重量。土壤类型和水分之间的相互作用对成虫羽化有显着影响。在干燥的细质地粘土中出现的成虫比在干燥的粗沙和高有机粪土中出现的要少。然而，土壤类型对蛹深度没有影响，土壤和水分之间也没有相互作用。土壤湿度是蛹深度的主要驱动因素，表明预蛹利用水分来调节它们在蛹室内的位置。此外，蛹的重量与土壤类型、湿度或其相互作用无关。我们的研究表明，与土壤类型相比，土壤湿度对玉米化蛹的影响更大，但需要进行额外的观察才能了解湿度影响化蛹的机制。