The Bugs That Keep Your Plants Safe: How Temperature and Food Affect Them

The Dicyphus cerastii is a tiny hero in the world of plants. This bug is a big deal in gardens and farms. It helps keep plants healthy by eating other bugs that harm them. To understand how this bug works, researchers looked at how it grows, survives, and has babies. They checked how different plants and temperatures affect these things. The bug needs food to grow up. Without it, the young bugs, called nymphs, can't become adults. When they have food, they grow faster in cooler temperatures. As it gets hotter, their growth slows down. This happens no matter what plant they are on. The plants tested were tomato, tobacco, and a fruit called Cape gooseberry. The bug's life cycle was also studied on tomatoes at different temperatures. The time it takes for an egg to become an adult bug changes with the temperature. At cooler temperatures, it takes longer. At very high temperatures, the bugs can't grow at all. The best temperature for the bug to grow from an egg to an adult is around 29. 2 degrees Celsius. Below 7 degrees Celsius, the bugs can't grow. The bugs live longer in cooler temperatures. At 15 degrees Celsius, they can live up to 158. 6 days. But at 30 degrees Celsius, they only live about 13. 8 days. The number of babies a bug has and how fast a new group of bugs appears depends on the temperature. At 20 degrees Celsius, bugs have the most babies and the fastest new groups. But at 25 degrees Celsius, the bugs grow the fastest. This information is important for farmers and gardeners. They can use it to make sure these helpful bugs stay healthy and do their job. By understanding how temperature and food affect the Dicyphus cerastii, people can help keep their plants safe from harmful bugs.