To determine the effects of temperature on the development and reproduction of top borer Scirpophaga excerptalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), the durations of different developmental stages and reproductive capacity of S. excerptalis were measured at 20, 23, 26, 29 and 32¿. The results showed that the average durations of various developmental stages of S. excerptalis shortened with increasing temperatures from 20 to 32¿. The durations to complete one life cycle were 113.17 days at 20¿, and 39.50 days at 32¿. The developmental rate of each stage and generation was positively correlated with the temperature, which was consistent with the Logistic regression model. The temperature thresholds for egg, larval, pupal and preoviposition stages and the total cycle were 13.73, 14.73, 13.91, 13.66 and 14.10¿, respectively. The effective accumulative temperature was 112.62, 370.01, 188.17, 23.82 and 718.07 degree-days (DD), respectively. The adult longevity shortened with increasing temperatures, and the highest number of eggs laid per female was 204.74 eggs at 29¿. The survival rates of eggs, larvae and the whole generation were the highest at 26¿, which were 87.25%, 56.67% and 37.21%, respectively while the highest survival rate of the pupa was 76.69% at 29¿. There was no significant difference for the total cycle at 23-29¿. The results indicated that temperature was the key factor affecting the development and reproduction of S. excerptalis, and the optimum temperature for development and reproduction ranged from 23 to 29¿.