Plantless rearing of the zoophytophagous bug Nesidiocoris tenuis

Abstract

Nesidiocoris tenuis Reuter (Heteroptera: Miridae) is widely distributed in the Mediterranean area, where it is used as an augmentative biological control agent of several pests. This zoophytophagous predator maintains a close relationship with its host plants using them not only to feed on, but also as an oviposition substrate. In the present study, a plantless rearing system was developed and developmental and reproductive parameters of bugs that had no access to plant material were compared with their counterparts living on plants. Eggs deposited in an artificial substrate took longer to develop and had lower hatching rates than those laid in tomato leaves. However, the biological parameters of nymphs that had hatched from the artificial substrate did not differ from those of nymphs that had emerged from plants, suggesting that, besides water, no essential nutrients are absorbed from the oviposition substrate during embryogenesis. Our results regarding the role of plant feeding indicate that water acquisition is the critical function of phytophagy in N. tenuis. In addition, supplementary nutrients derived from plants had a positive effect on adult weight and significantly enhanced survival in the absence of prey. Plantless rearing for five generations led to a prolonged preoviposition period and lower egg hatching rates and adult weights, but other developmental and reproductive parameters were not adversely affected. Our experiments suggest that prolonged plantless rearing of N. tenuis is possible provided that the mirid has access to a nutritionally superior food like Ephestia kuehniella eggs

Continuous rearing of the predatory anthocorid Orius laevigatus without plant materials

“…As with O. laevigatus , the absence of plants did not have a negative effect on the number of eggs present in the ovarioles or deposited in the substrate by N. tenuis (De Puysseleyr et al. ).…”

“…De Puysseleyr et al. () reported that plantless rearing of the mirid N. tenuis during five generations resulted in adults with somewhat lower adult body weights (ca. 6% for males and 4% for females).…”

“…The oviposition substrate used in the present study was modified by De Puysseleyr et al. () from a substrate proposed by Constant et al. () for mirid predators.…”

“…Constant et al (1996) proposed moistened dental cotton rolls wrapped in stretched Parafilm as oviposition substrates for Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae). Iriarte and Castañ e (2001) and Castañ e and Zapata (2005) Vandekerkhove et al 2011;De Puysseleyr et al 2013).…”

Influence of plant, animal and mixed resources on development of the zoophytophagous plant bugCampylomma verbasci(Hemiptera: Miridae)

“…Concerning the animal diets, lepidopteran eggs constituted a medium-quality diet. In the literature, eggs of E. kuehniella constitute a high-quality food source for different insect predators (De Puysseleyr, De Man, Höfte, & De Clercq, 2013). However, a diet composed of lepidopteran eggs must be supplemented with other resources to maximize development to adulthood.…”