Objective To explore the characteristics and duration of the embryonic development of Ceracris kiangsu Tsai and the occurrence stage of its egg diapause.

Method The embryo morphology and development period of C. kiangsu at different developmental stages were observed by stereomicroscope, and the water content of eggs, the full length, antennal length and head size of the embryo of C. kiangsu at different developmental stages of the eggs were measured.

ResultsUnder constant temperature of 25 °C, the embryonic development of C. kiangsu could be divided into 10 stages : stage I ( 2-5 d ), stage II ( 6-9 d ), stage III ( 10-16 d ), stage IV ( 17-24 d ), stage V ( 25-32 d ), stage VI ( 33-75 d ), stage VII ( 76-85 d ), stage VIII ( 86-92 d ), stage IX ( 93-100 d ) and stage X ( 101-109 d ). Embryonic development could be divided into four developmental stages: stage I and stage II were the initial development stage of embryos, stage III and stage IV were the rapid development stage of embryos, stage V-VII was the slow development stage, and stage VIII-X was the recovery development stage. After fourty-five days of oviposition, eggs entered the diapause development, and egg diapause occurred at stage VI.

Conclusion This study clarifies the embryonic development period and the embryonic development stage of egg diapause in C. kiangsu, and provides data support for clarifying the mechanism of the egg diapause of C. kiangsu.