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Title: LIFE HISTORY AND FIELD ECOLOGY OF HAWAII'S NATIVE KOA BUG, COLEOTICHUS BLACKBURNIAE (HETEROPTERA: SCUTELLERIDAE)

Author
item JOHNSON, TRACY - US FOREST SERVICE
item WOLFF, WILLIAM - PUREOX, INC.
item Follett, Peter
item JONES, VINCE - WASH. STATE UNIV.

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2004
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The koa bug is the only native herbivorous stink bug in Hawaii. Development, reproduction, and host plant interactions were quantified in the laboratory and field. In the lab, eggs developed to adults in 47 days. Mating and oviposition began 30 days later. Adult females lived an average of 80 days and laid 130 eggs in 25 masses. Bugs reprodiced year-round at low elevation on the introduced host Acacia confusa, but reproduction was seasonal at elevations above 500 m on the native hosts plants Acacia koa and Dodonea viscosa. These temporal and spatial patterns have implications for the conservation of the koa bug.

Technical Abstract: The koa bug, Coleotichus blackburniae, is the only native herbivorous stink bug in Hawaii. Development, reproduction, and host plant interactions were quantified in the laboratory and field. In the lab, eggs developed to adults in 47 days. Mating and oviposition began 30 days later. On average, adult females lived 80 days and laid 130 eggs in 25 masses. Bugs reproduced year-round at low elevation on the introduced host Acacia confusa, but reproduction was seasonal at elevations above 500 m on the native hosts plants Acacia koa and Dodonea viscosa. These temporal and spatial patterns have implications for the conservation of the koa bug.