| Life history traits of the predatory ladybeetle, Stethorus gilvifrons Mulsant on natural and factitious diets |
| Paper ID : 1070-3IICE (R1) |
| Authors: |
|
Jafar Ebrahimifar *1, Parviz Shishehbor2, Arash Rasekh3 1Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvza, Ahvaz Province, Iran 2Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran 3Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran |
| Abstract: |
| The predatory ladybeetle, Stethorus gilvifrons Mulsant (Col., Coccinellidae) is an effective natural enemy of spider mites. Its mass rearing is as dependence to parallel production of host plants and spider mites. Therefore, a study was carried out to evaluate development, survival and reproduction of S. gilvifrons feeding on Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski (natural diet (ND)), Ephestia kuehniella Zeller eggs (D1), E. kuehniella eggs + date palm pollen (D2), Artemia fransciscana (Kollogg) cysts (D3) and A. fransciscana cysts + vitamin B complex (D4) at 30±1 °C, 65±5 RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 L: D hours. S. gilvifrons larvae and pupae completed their development on ND and D2. However, no adult emerged on D1, D3 and D4 treatments. Total developmental time from egg to adult was 12.33 days on ND and 16.17 days on D2, with statistical differences (df=77; t= -6.23; P= 0.042). Mean immature survival was 89.86 % on ND and 79.74 % on D2 with no statistical differences (df=34; t= 4.54; P= 0.36). Moreover, sex ratio (female %) was 60 % on ND and 53.20 % on D2, without any statistical differences (df=4; t= 0.76; P= 0.45). Adult female mean longevity was statistically different on ND (28.77 days) compared with that on D2 (17.10 days). Similarly, Mean fecundity was significantly greater on ND (167.13 eggs per female) compared with that on D2 (40.62 eggs per female). The estimated intrinsic rate of increase (r) ranged from 0.105 to 0.191 per day, respectively, on the mentioned diets. Our results indicated that pollen based factitious diet (D2) can be utilized as an alternative food for rearing the S. gilvifrons. |
| Keywords: |
| Artemia fransciscana; Biology; Ephestia kuehniella egg; Fecundity; Longevity; Survival. |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
