The biology of Diabrotica speciosa (Germar, 1824) was studied in incubators at 18, 20, 22, 25, 30 and 32ºC, and 14 h photophase. Seedlings of popcorn, previously treated with a fungicide mixture (Thiabendazole: 1.0 g/kg e Captan: 1.5 g/kg) were used as food for the corn rootworm biological studies. There was an inverse relationship between the life cycle length and the temperature in the range of 18 to 32ºC. The threshold of temperature was similar for all developmental stages of D. speciosa. The threshold of temperature was 11.1ºC for eggs, 10.9ºC for the larval-adult period and 11.04ºC for egg-adult period. Thermal requeriments for eggs, larval-adult and egg-adult periods were 119.1, 355.9, and 474.9 degree-days, respectively.
Insecta; corn rootwom; degree-days; temperature threshold
