Laboratory Rearing of Geocoris ochropterus Fieber (Hemiptera : Lygaeidae) on the Pupae of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii (Hymenoptera : Trichogrammatidae)
S. K. Chavada
Corresponding author
D. N. Yadav
Abstract
A laboratory study was conducted during 1997 at the Biological Control Research Laboratory, Anand, Gujarat Agricultural University, to evaluate the suitability of three different prey species for rearing Geocoris ochropterus Fich., an important predator associated with cotton. The results revealed that 92 and 96 per cent of the nymphs completed their development within 30 and 31 days when reared on fresh and cold-stored pupae of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, an egg parasitoid of lepidopteran pests, respectively. Females fed on T. chilonis lived longer, laid a greater number of eggs, and had a longer oviposition period.