Rapid cold hardening increases cold and chilling tolerances more than acclimation in the adults of the sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata (Say) (Hemiptera: Tingidae)

The sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata is a new, invasive pest of Platanus trees in China. Although C. ciliata is often subjected to acute low temperatures in early winter and spring in northern and eastern China, the cold tolerance of C. ciliata has not been well studied. The objectives of this study were to determine whether adults of C. ciliata are capable of rapid cold hardening (RCH), and to compare the benefits of RCH vs. cold acclimation (ACC) in the laboratory. When the adult females incubated at 26 °C were transferred directly to the discriminating temperature (−12 °C) for 2 h, survival was only 22%. However, exposure to 0 °C for 4 h before transfer to −12 °C for 2 h induced RCH, i.e., increased survival to 68%. RCH could also be induced by gradual cooling of the insects at rates between 0.1 and 0.25 °C min−1. The protection against cold shock obtained through RCH at 0 °C for 4 h was lost within 1 h if the adults were returned to 26 °C before exposure to −12 °C. Survival at both −12 and −5 °C was greater for RCH-treated than for ACC-treated adults (for ACC, adults were kept at 15 °C for 5 days), and the lethal temperature (2 h exposure) was lower for RCH-treated than for ACC-treated adults. The results suggest that RCH may help C. ciliata survive the acute low temperatures that often occur in early winter and early spring in northern and eastern China.