Author
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Ferkovich, Stephen |
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Shapiro, Jeffrey |
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Submitted to: Georgia Organics Incorporated
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2003 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), is a common predator in sweet corn and field crops in eastern and central North America. O. insidiosus is also used in commercial flower and vegetable greenhouses for thrips, spider mites, aphids, insect eggs, small caterpillars and other small insects. O. insidiosus is generally reared on moth eggs which are expensive. If the bug could be reared on a cheaper artificial diet, this important predator would be more widely can be used in lieu of conventional insecticides for pest control. We can rear the predator on an a simple and more economical diet than moth eggs; however, the females reared on the diet lay fewer eggs. Consequently, we supplemented an economical artificial diet (control diet) composed of brewers yeast, soy protein hydrolysate and chicken yolk. with homogenates of eggs from the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, proteins, or lipids extracted from Plodia eggs. Test diets were also supplemented with each of three fatty acids identified to be predominant in prey eggs (palmitic, linoleic and oleic acid), bovine serum albumin (BSA), chicken liver, beef liver, or chicken egg white albumin. Diets were compared against Plodia eggs (standard) and control diet on the basis of the average total number of eggs a female oviposited during her lifetime. Only proteins derived from Plodia eggs produced significant improvements in fecundity over the control diet at relatively low concentration of protein. Once the fecundity-promoting component in the Plodia protein extract is isolated and identified, we envision it being used to fortify artificial diets for economical production of the insidious flower bug. |
