Unnatural prey and artificial diets for rearing Podisus maculiventris (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Development and reproduction of the predatory pentatomid Podisus maculiventris (Say) was assessed on three types of unnatural prey and two presentation systems of an artificial diet. Predator nymphs developed faster on pupae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L., than on larvae of the beetle or caterpillars of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella L., but nymphal survival and adult weights were similar on all prey tested. Females reared on wax moth larvae, however, produced about twice as many eggs (i.e., ca. 1000 eggs per female) as those fed on larvae or pupae of the tenebrionid. Overall performance of P. maculiventris on two presentation methods of an oligidic artificial diet based on bovine meat was inferior to that on live prey. Packaging the meat diet in stretched Parafilm sheets yielded better results than a gelled form of the diet. Female predators reared on the artificial diets were significantly smaller than those produced on live prey, but had a fecundity similar to that of females fed on larvae or pupae of T. molitor. The practical value of the different foods for the mass rearing of P. maculiventri is discussed. (C) 1998Academic Press.