Life History of Immature Lyctocoris campestris (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae): Effects of Constant Temperatures and Relative Humidities

Abstract

Life history of immature Lyctocoris campestris (F.), a predator of stored-product insects, was investigated at 17, 21, 25, and 29°C and ≍43, ≍58, and ≍75% RH in the laboratory. Most life history traits of L. campestris were influenced by temperature, but none of the traits was influenced by relative humidity. The egg incubation period was ≍7 d at 25-29°C, but increased sharply at temperatures <25°C. An equation was developed to predict egg incubation period over a range of temperatures. Egg hatch rate did not vary with temperatures nor with the relative humidities. The mean hatch rate ranged from 78 to 86% across different temperatures summed across 3 relative humidities. The instar-specific nymphal development also varied with temperature. The 2nd stadium was the shortest followed by the 3rd, 1st, and the 4th, and the 5th stadium was the longest across all 4 temperatures. However, the ratios of duration of nymphal stadia remained constant across all 4 temperatures tested. Total nymphal durations were 20.5, 27.6, 40.1, and 66.2 d at 29,25,21, and 17°C, respectively; all 4 were significantly different from one another. The relationships between temperature and instar-specific nymphal durations and total nymphal durations were described by the same equation for both females and males; total nymphal durations did not vary with sex. Nymphal survival rates ranged from 0.60 to 1.00 and did not vary significantly with temperature or relative humidity. Sex ratio (proportion of males) of emerging adults ranged from 0.40 to 0.70, but did not differ from 1:1. These life history data are reported in a manner useful for developing a computer model for simulating L. campestris population dynamics.