Potential diet regimens for laboratory rearing of the harlequin ladybird
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Potential diet regimens for laboratory rearing of the harlequin ladybird Michele Ricupero . Changchun Dai . Gaetano Siscaro . Agatino Russo . Antonio Biondi . Lucia Zappala`
Received: 4 October 2019 / Accepted: 11 May 2020 Ó International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) 2020
Abstract Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an invasive generalist predator, which has been used as a biological model to investigate several research questions and is also an effective biocontrol agent against agricultural pests. Its laboratory colonies are often maintained on natural prey that are costly, and thus alternative dietary regimens are required. We studied the influence of four different food regimens on the developmental and reproductive life history traits of H. axyridis, including body size and the population demographic parameters. The tested diet regimes were: Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs, a commercial mix of E. kuehniella and Artemia sp. (Anostraca: Artemiidae) cysts, a liver-based artificial diet, and the natural prey, Aphis gossypii Glover
(Hemiptera: Aphididae). The food regimes affected the investigated life parameters of H. axyridis in various ways. Larvae developed successfully and in the shortest time on moth eggs, but for H. axyridis reared on the artificial diet development was not successful. The mixture of moth eggs and brine shrimp cysts supported the rearing of H. axyridis. However our findings suggest its use only when no other suitable feedstuff is available. The life table approach used in this study could improve the standardized comparison among diet regimes, thus optimizing the rearing protocols of the species.
Handling Editor: Eric Riddick
Introduction
M. Ricupero C. Dai G. Siscaro A. Russo A. Biondi L. Zappala` (&) Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Catania, Italy e-mail: [email protected] C. Dai State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China C. Dai Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
Keywords Coccinellidae Cotton aphid Ephestia kuehniella Factitious food Insect rearing Life table
Coccinellid predators are an important ecological group for the control of sap-sucking insect pests. They have thus been used in biological control applications in agricultural crops (Hodek et al. 2012). The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is native to Asia, and since the last century it has been introduced into several countries for the biological control of their main prey: coccids and aphids (Koch 2003). Much evidence has been obtained regarding the highly favorable effects of H. axyridis in crop protection, owing to its broad
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dietary range and its great capacity to suppress plant pests in several annual and peren
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