Growing Degree Days for Insect Pests
Humans and other warm-blooded animals can generate their own heat to regulate their body temperature. In contrast, insects are ectotherms, which means they cannot generate their own heat and their development is driven by the temperatures they experience in their environment. This is the same for plants, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Most people in agriculture are familiar with using growing degree days (GDD; also called “heat units”) to monitor and predict crop development.