The Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), produces final instar larvae of overwintering stage in response to decreasing day-length and temperature, and then those larvae pupate after about 6-8 month. In this study, we investigated a few properties related to cold hardiness during overwintering of the insect. Overwintering larvae collected in December could survive at least for 16 days at -20oC, while all larvae of a laboratory colony, which was reared at 25oC, 15L/9D, died within 2 hours. Supercooling points of overwintering larvae were below -20oC, and the temperatures were significantly lower than those (ca. -10oC) of the laboratory colony. It was estimated that higher content of hemolymph glycerol is responsible for cold-hardiness as a cryoprotectant during overwintering of O. furnacalis.

• Eun Young Kim(Crop Cultivation and Environment Division, Natl. Institute of Crop Science, RDA)
• I Hyeon Kim(Crop Cultivation and Environment Division, Natl. Institute of Crop Science, RDA)
• Bo Yoon Seo(Crop Protection Division, Natl. Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA)
• Jin Kyo Jung(Crop Cultivation and Environment Division, Natl. Institute of Crop Science, RDA)