Abstract: To understand the effect of temperature on post-diapause development of hibernating pupae of the cabbage butterfly, Pieris melete Ménétriés, the post-diapause development of hibernating pupae at different temperatures and the adult emergence under natural conditions were systematically investigated. The results showed that the threshold temperature and effective accumulated temperature for post-diapause development of over-wintering male and female were 7.1±1.5℃, 133.4±3.3 day-degrees and 7.4±0.4℃, 155.7±5.3 day-degrees, respectively. According to the observations of emergence of adults under natural conditions and the natural temperatures above development threshold for 7 successive years, the effective accumulated temperature for the emergence of 50% individuals was estimated as 142.2±12.2 and 149.2±13.8 day-degrees for the male and female, respectively, which were close to the theoretical value. The adult emergence date for 50% over-wintering individuals can be calculated by using the theoretical effective accumulative temperature according to natural temperatures between February and April based on the above data.

Key words: Pieris melete, overwintering pupae, post-diapause development, developmental duration, low threshold temperature, effective accumulated temperature