To Acclimate or Not to Acclimate? Simultaneous Positive and Negative Effects of Acclimation on Susceptibility of Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) to Low Temperatures

Laboratory tests on acclimated and nonacclimated life stages of Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (adults, pupae, larvae, and eggs) and Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) (adults, larvae, and eggs) were conducted at 0, –5, –10, and –15°C to evaluate effects of acclimation on susceptibility to cold treatment. Acclimation of all tested life stages for 7 d at 15°C affected susceptibility of both species to the cold temperatures. After 1 d exposures for ≥2 h, acclimated adults had a noticeable increase in cold tolerance compared with nonacclimated adults for both tested species. Nonacclimated pupae of T. confusum were equally susceptible to cold compared with acclimated pupae at short exposures to low temperatures. Exposure of nonacclimated life stages of T. confusum, at –10°C for 1 d gave 0% survival. Similarly, almost all (99.6%) nonacclimated individuals of O. surinamensis died at –10°C. At 0°C, nonacclimated larvae were more cold tolerant than acclimated larvae, but this trend was reversed when larvae were exposed to –5°C. Mixed results were obtained for larvae of O. surinamensis because in some of the combinations tested, nonacclimated larvae were more tolerant, even at temperatures that were lower than 0°C. In contrast to O. surinamensis, eggs of T. confusum that had not been exposed to cold were not affected by acclimation, while exposure to cold showed increased cold hardiness in acclimated eggs. Results show that individual stored-product insect species may have mixed susceptibility to cold temperatures, which must be taken into account when using cold treatment as a management strategy.