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LABORATORY STUDIES OF PREDATION OF GRASSHOPPER EGGS, MELANOPLUS BIVITTATUS (SAY), BY ADULTS OF TWO SPECIES OF PTEROSTICHUS BONELLI (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J.M. Songa  and
N.J. Holliday
J.M. Songa
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2
N.J. Holliday*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2
*
2Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
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Abstract

In two-choice laboratory feeding trials in Petri dishes, adult carabid beetles, Pterostichus corvus (Leconte) and Pterostichus femoralis (Kirby), ate a higher percentage of grasshopper eggs, Melanoplus bivittatus (Say), than of cat food. Pterostichus corvus ate more eggs than did P. femoralis. Grasshopper eggs buried in soil in terraria were eaten by P. corvus adults at more than twice the rate of eggs exposed on the soil surface; predation rates at depths of 2.5 and 5 cm were the same. In plant-propagation trays, predation by P. corvus of buried grasshopper eggs was studied under three types of ground cover: Nicotiana seedlings, with rosette-form growth habit; barley seedlings, which exhibited upright growth; and bare ground. A significantly higher percentage of eggs was eaten under the Nicotiana than beneath the other types of ground cover, and predation rates did not differ between the barley and bare-ground treatments. Pterostichus corvus appears to be a suitable candidate for enhancement of natural biological control of grasshopper eggs, and manipulation of vegetation cover in grasshopper egg beds may be an effective technique for enhancing predation rates.

Résumé

Des coléoptères carabides adultes, Pterostichus corvus (Leconte) et Pterostichus femoralis (Kirby), ont consommé un pourcentage plus élevé d’oeufs de sauterelles Melanoplus bivittatus (Say) que de la nourriture pour chats dans des récipients Petri, lors d’expériences de laboratoire de double choix d’alimentation. Pterostichus corvus consomma plus d’oeufs que P. femoralis. Les adultes P. corvus ont consommé plus de deux fois les taux d’oeufs de sauterelles enterrés dans du sol en terrasses que ceux exposés à la surface du sol; les taux de prédation en profondeur de 2,5 et 5 cm étaient les mêmes. La prédation par P. corvus des oeufs de sauterelles enterrés dans des plateaux de propagation pour plantes a été étudié sous trois genres de couverts de sol : des jeunes plants de Nicotiana habitués à croître en forme de rosette; des jeunes plants d’orge qui démontraient une croissance droite; ainsi que le sol nu. Un pourcentage considérable d’oeufs ont été mangés sous le couvert de Nicotiana plutôt que sous les autres genres de couverts de sol et il n’y eu aucune différence dans les taux de prédation entre les traitements d’orge et ceux du sol. Il semblerait que P. corvus serait un candidat convenable pour rehaussé le contrôle biologique naturel des oeufs de sauterelles, et la manipulation de la couverture végétale dans les couches d’oeufs de sauterelles pourrait être une technique efficace pour rehausser les taux de prédation.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 129 , Issue 6 , December 1997 , pp. 1151 - 1159
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1997

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