Food preference of the rove beetle, Atheta coriaria Kraatz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) under laboratory conditions

• 来源期刊: 中国昆虫科学(英文版)
• 关键词: Atheta coriaria biological control choice tests feeding behavior fungus gnats
• 年，卷（期）: 2007,（1）
• 页码范围: 53-56
• 页数: 4页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

A study, involving laboratory choice tests, was conducted to determine thefeeding behavior, based on food preference, of the adult and larval stage of the rove beetle,Atheta coriaria Kraatz when presented with both fresh moistened oatmeal and secondinstar fungus gnat, Bradysia sp. nr. coprophila (Lintner) larvae in Petri dishes. Rovebeetles used in this study came from a laboratory-reared colony. A rating scale from 1 to5, based on percent missing (1 = 0 to 10%, 2 = 11 to 30%, 3 = 31 to 50%, 4 = 51 to 75%,and 5 = 76 to 100%), was used to objectively assess the amount of oatmeal and number offungus gnat larvae consumed by each rove beetle adult and larva. In all the choice tests,A. coriaria adults and larvae preferred to feed on fungus gnat larvae (78% and 69%,respectively) significantly more so than oatmeal (9% and 5%, respectively) based on theamount of oatmeal and number of fungus gnat larvae consumed after 4 and 6 hours. Therewere relatively minimal differences in the amount of food consumed for both adults andlarvae after 4 and 6 hours. The results of this study indicate that oatmeal may be aninexpensive supplemental food source, during the rearing process, which will not inhibitthe effectiveness of rove beetles to control fungus gnat larvae when released intogreenhouses.