Space- and cohort-dependent longevity in adult Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) mass-rearing cultures
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abstract
AbstractVarious biological parameters of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were investigated to maximize mass-rearing efficiency of this insect. Average percentage emergence from a cohort of uniformly aged pupae was 90.0% of which 37.0% were males. A significant difference in the among-day emergence sequences from a pupal cohort was detected with 77.5% of all females and 80.1% of all males emerging during the first 2 days of the emergence sequence. Adults emerging on day 3 within the emergence sequence lived significantly longer than did flies emerging on the other days within the sequence. Male flies lived an average of 9.9 days or 33.1% less than the 14.8-day average for female flies. Cage size was also found to influence adult longevity significantly with the greatest average longevity (20 days for females and 12 days for males) occurring in 385.6-cm3 cages. Emergence time within an emergence sequence and the physical size of an experimental unit are two previously experimentally undocumented sources of variation influencing longevity of Liriomyza. A significant nonlinear relationship between the number of flies leaving the rearing cages (as a result of normal rearing procedures) and the daily number of pupal L. trifolii added to each cage was detected. From these biological parameters, a birth and death rate simulation model was developed to predict adult population sizes of L. trifolii within a mass-rearing program. The gender-specific simulation model consisted of adult emergence (quantified in terms of the adult emergence sequence from a known number of pupae entered into each rearing culture), and adult death rate (quantified in terms of the survivorship of adults within the culture and the number of adults escaping from the culture). The adult population sizes predicted by the simulation model were not significantly different from the average population sizes observed from the rearing cages in validation studies utilizing normal mass-rearing practices. Use of this model should reduce the effort expended on maintaining host populations for commercial mass-production of natural enemies of L. trifolii.
