Herbivory affects ovarian development in the zoophytophagous predator Brontocoris tabidus (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae)

Abstract

The effect of prey-based and combination prey and plant-based diets [Tenebriomolitor pupae alone; T. molitor pupae and Eucalyptus cloeziana plants; T. molitor pupae and Eucalyptus urophylla plants; and T. molitor pupae and Psidium guajava (guava) plants] on the morphometry of the ovary of Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) was analyzed in the field. Females fed on T. molitor pupae without plants presented with smaller ovarioles. The number of oocytes per ovary was higher for B. tabidus females fed on a combination diet of E. urophylla and T. molitor pupae when compared to females fed only on prey. In addition to diet, the number of oocytes in the ovariole was shown to vary with the age of B. tabidus. The 21-day-old B. tabidus females were found to have a higher number of oocytes per ovariole than the 15-day-old females in all diet conditions. The 15-day-old females exhibited more developed oocytes when fed on diets containing both prey and eucalypts plants and less developed oocytes when fed with a combination diet containing guava plants or T. molitor pupae alone. The 21-one-day-old B. tabidus females which were fed with a diet without plants had smaller oocytes than those fed with plants. Herbivory improves the morphology of the ovary of B. tabidus, affecting the size of the reproductive structures and the oogenesis of this natural enemy in the field.