Mct 150 c

Once the S. furcifera adults emerged, individuals from each treatment group were identified to sex and wing form. Fifteen pairs of macropterous females and males were randomly selected to mate and oviposit in numbered glass tubes with rice seedlings (Male NZMF x female NZMF and male GMF x Female GMF). Since each S. furcifera female adult mates multiple times with male adults, a new male adult was added to the cage if the original died before the female. Fecundity was measured by dissecting rice stems every day under a stereomicroscope (MOTIC SMZ-168) until death of the given female individual and counting number of eggs laid per female. Another 40 newly-emerged macropterous females from each treatment group were transferred to large beakers with rice seedlings, maintained continuously under their corresponding magnetic field treatments, and checked for mortality daily until death. The remaining macropterous female adults on the 1st, 4th, 8th day after emergence from each treatment group meeting the requirements of the molecular experiments were individually transferred into 1.5ml clear microtubes (Axygen MCT-150-C) at and stored in a -80°C freezer (Thermo Scientific Forma 702, USA) for the gene expression experiments (90 individuals for each sampling time). Fresh rice seedlings were provided every 3rd day.

Thirty female and male pairs of newly emerged macropterous S. furcifera were randomly selected from the insect stocks, and separately reared and mated in pairs on rice seedlings within glass tubes for 2 days in a greenhouse. Each mated female was then transferred into either NZMF or GMF treatments in the same cage to oviposit on fresh rice seedlings for one day, and then all adults were removed. Cages were monitored at the same time each day for newly hatched 1st-instar nymphs to quantify the egg period (days). Next, newly-hatched 1st-instar nymphs of S. furcifera were randomly collected from the NZMF and the GMF treatments, individually transferred to rice seedlings in new numbered glass tubes (one insect per tube), and re-exposed to the NZMF and GMF treatments from which they were collected to complete development. These individuals were checked for molting at the same time daily to monitor development from the 1st-5th instar. The remaining newly-hatched 1st-instar nymphs were reared for the gene expression experiments, and nymphs at 0h, 24h and 60h after molting into the 5th instar from each treatment group meeting the requirements of the molecular experiments were individually transferred into 1.5ml clear microtubes (Axygen MCT-150-C) at and stored in a -80°C freezer (Thermo Scientific Forma 702, USA) (90 individuals for each sampling time).