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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #200145

Title: OVIGENY IN SELECTED GENERALIST PREDATORS

Author
item Legaspi, Jesusa
item JERVIS, MARK - CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, UK
item LEGASPI, JR., BENJAMIN - STATE OF FLORIDA

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2006
Publication Date: 12/13/2006
Citation: Legaspi, J.C., Jervis, M.A., Legaspi, Jr., B.C. 2006. Ovigeny in selected generalist predators. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: “Ovigeny” refers to the process of egg production in adult insects. “Pro-ovigenic” adult insects emerge with a fixed complement of mature eggs; whereas, “synovigenic” species continuously produce and develop eggs throughout adulthood. Very little work has been done on ovigeny in insect predators. We studied 4 predators such as Podisus maculiventris (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Orius insidiosus (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae), Delphastus catalinae (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and Geocoris punctipes (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). We examined egg load at regular intervals (dependent on lifespan). Numbers of eggs laid were also recorded. In P. maculiventris, numbers of immature eggs increased with predator age whereas numbers of mature eggs declined providing clear indication of continuous egg production. Similar results were found in G. punctipes. In other predators, egg loads tended to increase with time, except in D. catalinae. However, numbers of eggs laid all increased with time. These findings suggest that egg production occurs during the adult stage in all these predators and that all predators studied were synovigenic to varying degrees.