Abstract
The predatory species, Clitostethus brachylobus Peng, Ren & Pang 1998 (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), native to China, has been reported as a predator of the whitefly species, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.). Present study describes the development and biological characteristics of C. brachylobus. Developmental periods of different immature stages showed significant differences, when fed on different life stages of B. tabaci. Prey consumption capacity was reduced by the increase in prey age. Female longevity was 193.5 days, whereas fecundity was 154.70 eggs/female. Net reproductive rate was 53.60, whereas the mean generation time was 102.64 days. The daily adult survival rates gradually decreased 120 h post-adult emergence.
Highlights
The whitefly species, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), is well known as an economic pest on crops, vegetables, and fruits
B. tabaci exists in 31 provinces or municipalities of China, causing economic losses to different crops (Qiu et al 2011)
Insect cultures C. brachylobus and B. tabaci from a greenhouse colony were maintained on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. plants at Provincial Key Laboratory of Biopesticides, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, following the methods of Huang et al (2008)
Summary
The whitefly species, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), is well known as an economic pest on crops, vegetables, and fruits. It prevails across whole China with a tendency for annual outbreaks (Qiu et al 2011). Agrochemicals are mostly used for whitefly management throughout the world. They affect natural environment in many harmful ways (Liang et al 2012; He et al 2013). This has necessitated requiring alternate control measures and applications of biocontrol agents, as safe options for environmentally sustainable whitefly management (Hernandez et al 2013).
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