Date of Award
Spring 6-13-2025
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Biological Sciences
Organizational Unit
College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Shannon M. Murphy
Second Advisor
Jonathan Velotta
Third Advisor
Julie A. Morris
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Ectothermic organisms, Fall webworm, Heatwave, Fitness
Abstract
Heatwaves are a common extreme weather event and pose a risk to ectothermic organisms like insects. We tested how a dietary generalist herbivore, the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea, Lepidoptera; hereafter, FW), responds to temperature warming, heatwave duration, and host plants. Our results show that FW suffer reduced fitness when exposed to high temperatures and heatwaves, with more extreme temperatures and longer heatwaves resulting in increased negative effects on fitness. We also performed a field experiment with simulated heatwaves with FW. We found no significant effects of field heatwaves on FW fitness. However, when comparing fitness proxies of larvae from the laboratory and field heatwave experiments, we found that the increased range in daily temperatures during the heatwave period negatively impacted survival and fitness. Furthermore, all larvae that experienced a simulated heatwave in the field suffered decreased fitness compared to larvae that experienced a heatwave in the laboratory.
Copyright Date
6-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Kailey G. Hicks
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
96 pgs
File Size
4.5 MB
Recommended Citation
Hicks, Kailey G., "The Effects of Heatwaves on a Generalist Herbivore" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2568.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2568
Included in
Biology Commons, Entomology Commons, Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons, Population Biology Commons