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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Insect Genetics and Biochemistry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #132788
Title: A SHORT-TERM AUXILIARY DIET FOR THE PREDACEOUS STINK BUG PERILLUS BIOCULATUS (HEMIPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE)

Author
item Yocum, George
item Evenson, Patsy

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/6/2002
Publication Date: 12/20/2002
Citation: YOCUM, G.D., EVENSON, P.L. A SHORT-TERM AUXILIARY DIET FOR THE PREDACEOUS STINK BUG PERILLUS BIOCULATUS (HEMIPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE). FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST. 2002. 85:567-571.

Interpretive Summary: Perillus bioculatus is a major predator of the Colorado potato beetle and has drawn a lot interest as a possible biological control agent both in United State and Europe. P. bioculatus can be maintained in the laboratory on a diet of Heliothis virescens larvae if supplemented with Colorado potato beetle (CPB) eggs. We have demonstrated that an artificial diet can replace the CPB eggs and maintain the colony for at least three generations. This enables us to maintain our Perillus colonies at high numbers independent of the normal fluctuations in our CPB colony and thereby increasing our research productivity.

Technical Abstract: Perillus bioculatus can be maintained in the laboratory on a diet of Heliothis virescens F. larvae if supplemented with Colorado potato beetle (CPB) eggs. Here we demonstrate that an artificial diet can replace the CPB eggs and maintain the colony for at least three generations. This enables us to maintain our Perillus colonies at high numbers independent of the normal fluctuations in our CPB colony. Survival of nymphs, adult longevity, start of ovipositioning, total number of eggs per female, total number of clutches per female, and percent hatch were equivalent between the two rearing regimes for three generations. Fecundity on the artificial diet was greatly reduced by the sixth generation, leading to the collapse of the colony during the seventh generation.