The onion fly modulates the adult eclosion time in response to amplitude of temperature cycle.

To confirm whether the amplitude of diel temperature cycles causes a phase shift of adult eclosion rhythm of the onion fly, Delia antiqua, the peak time (Ø(E)) of adult eclosion was determined under various thermoperiods with a fixed temperature either in the warm or cool phase and temperature differences ranging from 1°C to 4°C between the two phases. Irrespective of the temperature level during the warm or cool phase, Ø(E) occurred earlier with decreasing amplitude of the temperature cycle. The results strongly support the previous conclusion of Tanaka and Watari (Naturwissenschaften 90:76-79, 2003) that D. antiqua responds to the amplitude of temperature cycle as a cue for the circadian adult eclosion timing. The phase advance was larger in thermoperiods with a fixed warm-phase temperature than in those with a fixed cool-phase temperature. This might be ascribed to the interaction between the amplitude and level of temperature in the thermoperiodic regimes.