Abstract: In order to explore the effects of temperature on the population growth of Comstock mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki, the life table of the experimental population of P. comstocki at six different temperatures (17℃, 20℃, 23℃, 26℃, 29℃ and 32℃) was constructed. The results showed that the generation duration decreased with the temperature increasing from 17℃ to 29℃. The longest generation durations of females and males were 121.27 d and 89.64 d at 17℃, respectively, while the shortest were 52.10 d and 36.01 d at 29℃, respectively, and the relationship between the development and temperature could be simulated by the Logistic model. The developmental threshold temperature and the effective accumulated temperature of females were 8.69℃, and 1 020.90 day-degrees, and those of males were 10.27℃ and 659.04 day-degrees, respectively. At 26℃, the survival rate and population trend index were the highest, being 81.94% and 322.27, respectively. The temperature of 26℃ was the most suitable for the population growth. While at 17℃and 29℃, the survival rates were 64.85％and 67.23％, and the population trend indexes were 69.91 and 42.19, respectively. At 32℃, growth retardation appeared in the 1st instar nymphs. It is concluded that high and low temperatures are not suitable for the population growth of P. comstocki and high temperatures have stronger effects than low temperatures.

Key words: Pseudococcus comstocki, experimental population, developmental threshold temperature, effective accumulated temperature, life table, population trend index