Comparison of Nucleic Acid Contents among Non-diapause Pupae, Diapause Pupae and Eclosion-adult from Diapause Pupae of Papilio xuthus

In order to know the diapause mechanism of Papilio xuthus deeply,the nucleic acid content of non-diapause pu-pae,diapause pupae and eclosion-adult from diapause pupae were measured by colorimetry,respectively.The results showed the RNA content of non-diapause pupae were between 8.064 3~13.035 3 μg.mg-1,diapause pupae were 9.9177～13.5327 μg.mg-1,and eclosion-adult from diapause pupae was 20.717 0 μg.mg-1.The DNA content of non-diapause pupae were 0.422 7～ 0.542 0 μg.mg-1,diapause pupae were 0.459 0～1.100 7 μg.mg-1,and eclosion-adult from diapause pupae was 1.838 0 μg.mg-1.The high content of nucleic acid in the stage of diapause revealed that the metabolism of protein and cell division was more active.The variance of nucleic acid was related to the stage of development of P.xuthus.