DEVELOPMENT OF Coleomegilla maculata DE GEER (COLEOPTERA: COCCINELLIDAE) WITH PREY AND ARTIFICIAL DIET

Abstract

Coleomegilla maculata De Geer (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is an important predator and has the potential to be used as a biological control agent of insect pests of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. This study aimed to evaluate the development of C. maculata larvae fed eggs Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) alone or associated with artificial diet, eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and nymphs of Schizaphis graminum (Rondani) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The experiment was conducted in a complete randomized design with four replications, each with 10 larvae of C. maculata in an acclimatized room (25 ± 1 ºC, 70 ± 10% RH and 12 hours photophase). The duration of the stages of C. maculata was similar in all treatments, except for one that used nymphs of S. graminum, resulting in a shorter period for the larval stage. The viability of larval, prepupal and pupal stages and larval to adult C. maculata was high and similar in all treatments. No effect of diets on the weight of C. maculata adults occurred, except for the heavier insects fed on eggs of A. kuehniella, whose males and females weighed 9.8 ± 0.3 mg and 13.3 ± 0.5 mg, respectively. Therefore, based on laboratory results, the predator can be evaluated in the field in pest management program against S. frugiperda and S. graminum. Advance in the methodology of rearing the predator in the laboratory can be obtained through the use of artificial diet (honey, yeast, ascorbic acid, propionic acid, nipagin and water) associated with eggs of A. kuehniella.

Keywords

• biological control
• fall armyworm
• aphids
• lady beetles
• rearing methodology