Diet and growth parameters of the zoophytophagous predator Engytatus varians (Hemiptera: Miridae)

ABSTRACT

Engytatus varians (Distant) (Hemiptera: Miridae) was observed to prey on eggs and nymphs of the tomato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc.) (Hemiptera: Triozidae) on tomato plants, Solanum lycopersicum L., in Tarímbaro, Michoacán, Mexico, in 2014. In the present study, several growth parameters of this predator were assessed under three different diets (second-third [N₂-N₃] instars of B. cockerelli + eggs of the grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella Olivier [Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae] + 5% sugar solution; N₂-N₃ instars of B. cockerelli + S. cerealella eggs; and N₂-N₃ instars of B. cockerelli alone). In females, among the three diet groups, the group fed N₂-N₃ instars of B. cockerelli + S. cerealella eggs + 5% sugar solution showed the highest longevity (46.6 ± 2.4 days), probability of survival (100% up to day 26), fecundity (180.5 ± 8.5 eggs/female), oviposition rate (OR, 3.9 ± 0.2 eggs/female/day), intrinsic rate of increase (r_m, 0.118 ± 0.0001/female/day), net reproductive rate (R₀, 107.8 ± 0.2 female eggs/female), and mean generation time (T, 39.6 ± 0.01 days). Our results indicate that the sugar solution improved the physical conditions and population dynamics of E. varians and that sugar could be used to improve the rearing of this predator.

KEYWORDS:

• Beneficial bugs
• population dynamics
• Bactericera cockerelli
• improvement in rearing procedure
• biological control

Acknowledgements

This research forms part of the undergraduate thesis of Luis Jesús Palma-Castillo. The authors are grateful to American Journal Experts for English language editing, which contributed to the clarity of the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Coordinación de la Investigación Científica, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Ana Mabel Martínez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6476-382X

Samuel Pineda http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9237-1180

José Isaac Figueroa http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6278-1768

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Coordinación de la Investigación Científica, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo: [Grant Number Programa de Investigación 2016–2017].