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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #385007
Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Development of a method for rearing Nezara viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) on a semi-solid artificial diet

Author
item Portilla, Maribel
item Reddy, Gadi V.P.

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/21/2021
Publication Date: 10/7/2021
Citation: Portilla, M., Reddy, G.V. 2021. Development of a method for rearing Nezara viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) on a semi-solid artificial diet. Journal of Insect Science. 21(5):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieab068.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieab068

Interpretive Summary: The requirement for plant material to rear the Southern green stinkbug (SGSB) is expensive and labor intensive. Reduce the cost, increasing reliability and simplicity of its production would greatly enhance biological research and possibly facilitate the production of biological control agents. Portilla et al. (2015), reported that SGSB could be reared successfully on a modified semi-solid artificial diet developed for Lygus bugs. Based on that work, the present investigation aimed to improve the mass rearing system for SGSB using the same artificial diet and combining it with the rearing methods used for Lygus bug species. In summary, this study showed that SGSB can be reared in large numbers without insect manipulations from egg to adult using lygus artificial diet, which formerly was not feasible.

Technical Abstract: A method for rearing the southern green stinkbug, (Nezara viridula L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), using a modified lygus semi-solid artificial diet was developed. First to second-instar nymph were reared in a density of 631.5 ± 125.05 eggs per Petri-dish (4 cm deep × 15 cm diam). Second instar to adult were reared in a density of 535.0 ± 112.46 s instar nymphs per rearing cage (43 × 28 × 9 cm). Mating and oviposition occurred in popup rearing cages (30 × 30 cm), each holding 60–90 mixed sex adults of similar age. Adults emerged 35.88 ± 2.13 d after oviposition and survived for an average of 43.09 ± 9.53 d. On average, adults laid 223.95 ± 69.88 eggs in their lifetime, for a total production of 8,099 ± 1,277 fertile eggs/oviposition cage. Egg fertility was 77.93% ± 16.28. Egg masses held in Petri dishes had a total hatchability of 79.38% ± 20.03. Mortality of early nymphs in petri-dishes was 0.64% ± 0.12 for the first instar and 1.37% ± 0.45 for second instar. Late nymphal mortality in rearing cages was 1.41% ± 0.10, 3.47% ± 1.27, and 4.72% ± 1.29 for the third, fourth, and fifth instars, respectively. Survivorship from nymphs to adults was 88.48% ± 2.76. Using artificial diet for rearing N. viridula could reduce cost by avoiding time-consuming issues with daily feeding fresh natural hosts and insect manipulation. It could increase reliability and simplicity of bug production, which should facilitate mass rearing of its biological control agents.