Abstract: 【Aim】Juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysone (Ecd) play important roles in the growth and development of insects. The aim of this study is to clarify the regulatory mechanism of these two hormones and their metabolism-related genes on the development of Calliptamus italicus eggs.【Methods】The changes in contents of JH and Ecd during the development of C. italicus eggs were detected by ELISA assay, and the expression patterns of important genes (JHE, JHEH, DIB and EcR) in the metabolic pathways of JH and Ecd during the development of C. italicus eggs were detected by qRT-PCR.【Results】The JH content in C. italicus eggs was significantly higher at the diapause stage (stages Ⅳ-Ⅵ) than at the early developmental stage (stages Ⅰ-Ⅲ), and decreased significantly at the post-diapause developmental stage (stages Ⅶ-Ⅸ). The Ecd content in C. italicus eggs increased significantly at the early diapause stage (stage Ⅳ), then decreased significantly, and increased again at the post-diapause developmental stage. The expression level of JHE in C. italicus eggs increased firstly and then decreased at the early developmental stage and the post-diapause developmental stage, and was low at the diapause stage. The expression level of JHEH in C. italicus eggs also increased first and then decreased at the early developmental stage, and didn’t change significantly at the diapause stage, but increased significantly at the post-diapause developmental stage. The expression level of DIB in C. italicus eggs was higher at the diapause stage than at the early developmental stage and decreased at the post-diapause developmental stage. The expression level of EcR in C. italicus eggs did not change significantly at the early developmental stage and diapause stage, but increased gradually at the post-diapause developmental stage. 【Conclusion】The development of C. italicus eggs is co-regulated by JH and Ecd. JH is the important hormone to regulate diapause entry, while Ecd is the important hormone for diapause termination of C. italicus eggs. JH catabolic pathway of C. italicus eggs is mainly regulated by JHE before diapause termination and by JHEH after diapause termination. DIB and EcR can affect the development of C. italicus eggs by regulating Ecd content. These results lay a foundation for further revealing the diapause mechanism of C. italicus eggs. 

Key words: Calliptamus italicus, juvenile hormone, ecdysone, JHE, JHEH, DIB, EcR