Rearing the Tarnished Plant Bug (Heteroptera: Miridae) Using a Tissue Paper Oviposition Site

Abstract

The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), was found to prefer to oviposit in moist tissue paper wrapped around a green bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L., rather than in the green bean. This preference was used to rear tarnished plant bugs using eggs that were extracted from tissue paper and green beans or broccoli, Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis L., (or both) for food. The method used for extracting eggs from tissue paper is described along with other rearing methods and equipment. Egg hatch and hatched eggs that developed to the adult stage averaged 84.9 and 71.1%, respectively, for insects reared at 25.6 ± 1°C, 65 ± 10% RH, and a photoperiod of 14:1O(L:D). Egg production averaged 97 per female. Green beans, broccoli, or green beans in combination with broccoli were found to be equally effective in rearing nymphs, with no significant differences found in numbers of adults produced, egg production in females, or in female longevity. Extracted eggs can be held in cold storage at 10°C for 15 d and then allowed to hatch, with no reduction in egg hatch or in adult production. The use of extracted eggs provides exact numbers of eggs for tests and greater flexibility in monitoring, expanding, and maintaining a colony. Cold storage of part of the eggs produced each week also helps ensure colony survival should the adults and nymphs that are being reared be lost because of contaminated food or a malfunction in the rearing equipment.