The Effects of Temperature and Elevation on the Willow Leaf Beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis and Two of its Main Predators.

Nattasha J. Acevedo
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Abstract The effects of elevation and temperature on the willow beetle were
studied at the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. We study the
correlation between adult abundance and elevation at three different
drainages; Bishop Creek, Big Pine Creek and Rock Creek. We used the survey method to measure the abundance of adult beetle and abundance of predators. The results prove that elevation is an important factor that determines the abundance and distribution of adult beetle and its specialist predators. In the second part of the project we study the effects of temperature on eggs development. We placed temperature loggers to measure the daily temperature of the site to and the results prove our hypothesis that said eggs had better development at warmer temperatures.