Woodman, James2015-12-100022-1910http://hdl.handle.net/1885/60308The cold tolerance of first-instar nymphs of the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera, was examined using measures of total body water content, supercooling point and mortality for a range of sub-zero temperature exposure regimes. The supercooling points for starved and fed nymphs were -13.1 ± 0.9 and -12.6 ± 1.6 °C, and freezing caused complete mortality. Above these temperatures, nymphs were cold tolerant to different degrees based on whether they were starved or given access to food and water for 24 h prior to exposure. The rate of cooling also had a significant effect on mortality. Very rapid cooling to -7 °C caused 84 and 87% mortality for starved and fed nymphs respectively, but this significantly decreased for starved nymphs if temperature declined by more ecologically realistic rates of 0.5 and 0.1 °C min-1. These results are indicative of a rapid cold hardening response and are discussed in terms of the likely effects of cold nights and frost on first-instar nymphal survival in the field. CrownKeywords: water; grasshopper; low temperature; mortality; supercooling; survival; water content; animal; article; Australia; chemistry; cold; grasshopper; growth, development and aging; metabolism; nymph; physiology; Animals; Australia; Cold Temperature; Grasshoppe Cold hardiness; Low temperature; Rapid cold hardening; Supercooling point; Total body water content201010.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.11.0122016-02-24