Abstract
The ladybird, Serangium japonicum (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is one of the most important predators of whiteflies in China, however, the suitability of different kinds of prey and nutritional requirements of this predator are poorly studied. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the pre-imaginal development, percentage survival of immatures, adult longevity and fecundity of S. japonicum when reared on two different species of prey, mixed ages of the cotton whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) biotype-B (i.e., eggs and nymphs) and green peach aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in order to quantify their relative suitability as prey under laboratory conditions of 25 ± 1°C, 50 ± 10% RH and a photoperiod of 16L : 8D. The results of this study indicate that the total developmental period (from egg to adult) was shorter when they were fed on B. tabaci (18.29 ± 0.13 days) than on M. persicae (19.85 ± 0.22 days). The percentage survival of the immatures, growth index, development rate, adult fresh weight, fecundity and percentage of eggs hatching were higher and the pre-oviposition period was significantly shorter when S. japonicum were fed on B. tabaci than on M. persicae. In contrast, there was no significant difference in their longevity and oviposition period when fed on B. tabaci and M. persicae. The results indicate that as a diet for S. japonicum M. persicae is inferior to B. tabaci. This is the first record of S. japonicum being able to complete its development feeding exclusively on M. persicae. Since B. tabaci and M. persicae often simultaneously occur in vegetable fields, these results indicate that it is likely that S. japonicum could be utilized to control mixed populations of aphids and whiteflies, and furthers our understanding of ladybird population dynamics in the field in relation to the availability of different species of prey.
Highlights
The cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates as well as in protected agricultural systems in temperate regions
When larvae of S. japonicum fed on B. tabaci, the developmental time of the pupa increased by 17.1% compared to those fed on M. persicae (Table 1)
The body mass of newly emerged adults differed significantly after feeding on M. persicae compared to B. tabaci, and was higher when fed on B. tabaci (Table 1)
Summary
The cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates as well as in protected agricultural systems in temperate regions. It is an important pest of more than 600 species of plants of numerous field and vegetable crops in many parts of the world (Naranjo et al, 2010). Known as a sporadic pest of cotton in China for many years, Bemisia tabaci Biotype-B did not become an important pest in northern China until 2000 (Wu et al, 2002), and is widely distributed across China (Hu et al, 2011). Because of its high reproductive rate, many generations per year and ability to rapidly develop resistance to insecticides, whiteflies are difficult to control using conventional means (Castle et al, 2010). Biological control becomes the primary method for suppressing whitefly populations in agroecosystems (Arno et al, 2010)
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