| Temperature-dependent development of Nesidiocoris tenuis: Linear and Non-linear Modelling |
| Paper ID : 1048-3IICE (R1) |
| Authors: |
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Mohammad Ali Mirhosseini *1, Yaghoub Fathipour2, Mahmoud Soufbaf3 1Department of Entomology, college of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14115-336, Tehran, Iran. 3Department of Plant Protection, Nuclear Agriculture Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Karaj, Iran |
| Abstract: |
| The zoophytophagous mirid bugs are becoming important biological control agents for pests such as whiteflies, aphids, and tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Among these predators, Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is one of the common omnivorous mirid bugs that can be naturally found on both open-field and greenhouse tomato plants when no pesticides are applied.To improve mass-rearing of this species and to optimize its application in integrated pest management, its nymphal survival and developmental times were examined at seven constant temperatures ranging from 14 to 34°C. Eggs developed to adulthood at all temperatures tested. Egg-adult developmental time decreased sharply with increasing temperature, except at 34°C (17.21 d), at which developmental time was significantly longer than that obtained at 31°C (15.59 d). The lowest (11.36%) and highest (28.26%) percentage of mortality was found at 28 and 14°C, respectively. To describe the development rate of immature stages of N. tenuis as a function of temperature, two linear and 26 nonlinear models were fitted. The lower temperature threshold (T0) and thermal constant (K) of total immature stages were estimated by the ordinary (10.94°C and 318.37 DD) and Ikemoto (10.28°C and 339.57 DD) linear models. Based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC), Lactin-1, Analytis-1/Allahyari and Janisch/Kontodimas were the best models to describe the temperature-dependent development rate of egg, nymph and whole immature stages of the predator, respectively. Our findings provide information on N. tenuis biology that will improve application of this predator as a biological control agent. |
| Keywords: |
| biological control, predatory bug, thermal requirements, zoophytophagus mirid |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
