Diet affects reproduction and number of oocytes per ovary of the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Abstract The effect of the type of diet consumed on the reproduction of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) was studied. Females of P. nigrispinus fed on an artificial diet had a longer preoviposition period than those fed on 3rd or 5th instar cotton leafworm larvae [Alabama argillacea (Hübner)] or mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) larvae. P. nigrispinus females fed on 3rd or 5th instar cotton leafworm larvae or mealworm larvae had a longer oviposition period than females on an artificial diet. The numbers of egg masses per female and of egg masses per female per day were higher when P. nigrispinus was fed on 3rd or 5th instar cotton leafworm larvae than when fed on an artificial diet. Podisus nigrispinus females fed on 5th instar cotton leafworm larvae produced a greater number of eggs per female, eggs per egg mass, and eggs per female per day, had a higher nymphal hatch rate than those fed other diets and had higher numbers of oocytes per central ovariole or per ovary than those fed on 3rd instar cotton leafworm larvae, artificial diet, house fly (Musca domestica L.) larvae or mealworm larvae.