Laboratory measures of cold tolerance may be underestimating the true level of cold tolerance
Phloem-feeding insects such as aphids feed on the phloem sap of plants. This diet of phloem sap is high in sugars, which act as cryoprotectants, helping the insect to persist at low temperatures. However, measures commonly used to predict the cold tolerance of phloem-feeding insects are performed with the insect dethatched from the plant on which it would normally feed. For this reason, such measurements may be inadvertently underestimating the cold tolerance of the insect. Read more here.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12410
Phloem-feeding insects such as aphids feed on the phloem sap of plants. This diet of phloem sap is high in sugars, which act as cryoprotectants, helping the insect to persist at low temperatures. However, measures commonly used to predict the cold tolerance of phloem-feeding insects are performed with the insect dethatched from the plant on which it would normally feed. For this reason, such measurements may be inadvertently underestimating the cold tolerance of the insect. Read more here.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12410