QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE PREDATORY BUGS PODISUS-MACULIVENTRIS (SAY) AND PODISUS-SAGITTA (FAB) (HETEROPTERA, PENTATOMIDAE) AFTER PROLONGED REARING ON A MEAT-BASED ARTIFICIAL DIET

The predatory stinkbugs Podisus maculiventris and Podisus sagitta were reared for more than 15 consecutive generations on a meat-based artificial diet. When they were returned to a diet of live prey (larvae of the pyralid Galleria mellonella) after different generations on the artificial diet, developmental and reproductive traits were similar to those of bugs continuously reared on live prey. Under laboratory conditions, predation rates for nymphs and adults of both pentatomids on larvae of the noctuid Spodoptera exigua were found to be unaffected by the previous diet. The results suggest that long-term rearing of P. maculiventris and P. sagitta on the meat-based artificial diet did not substantially affect the quality of the predators.