THE EFFECTS OF FEEDING LARVAE SPODOPTERA LITURA TO CERTAIN NYMPHAL INSTAR OF THE PREDATORY BUG CANTHECONIDEA FURCELLATA WOLFF.

(HEMIPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE) ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PREDATOR Evawaty SriUlina Assessment Institute of Agricultural Technology North Sumatra Jl. Jend. Besar A.H. Nasution No. 1B Medan, email: ev_ulina@yahoo.com Abstract The stage of the nymph Cantheconidea furcellata during which it is critical to provide live larvae of Spodoptera litura were evaluated under laboratory conditions. The results suggests that developmental and survival rates of second instar nymphs fed larvae of S. litura was comparable to the control (bug fed live larvae throughout the nymphal stage). In terms of the weight of adult females, the control was the best. Feeding the second instar nymphs of C. furcellata with larvae of S. litura while other instar may be fed mealworms is adequate and useful for rearing C. furcellata Keywords: Cantheconidea furcellata, Spodoptera litura, nymphal instar INTRODUCTION The asopin bug, Cantheconidea furcellata Wolff., also referred to as Eocanthecona furcellata is promising biological control agent against nettle caterpillars in oil palm (Sipayung et al., 1992). Efforts are being made to mass rear C. furcellata for use in biological control. The rearing of C. furcellata under laboratory conditions still requires live caterpillars (Ulina, 2000). Optimal nymphal performance and adult weight can be achieved only if the nymphs of C. furcellata are offered live caterpillars reared on the either fresh foliage or artificial diet (Ulina and Khoo, 1999). Therefore, mass rearing of this predatory bug can be hampered by the difficulty in producing large numbers of prey insects to serve as food for C. furcellata. Growth in insects is discontinuous; nymphs pass through several instars during which they feed and grow. The different instars my exhibit different habits and the relative performance of early- and late- instars are significantly different (Scriber and Slansky, 1981). Nutrient requirements during the early- and late- instars also change (Chapman, 1969). It is possible that the requirement for live of S. litura may not apply to all nymphal instars of C. furcellata. This paper describes a study carried out to determine which nymphal instar of C. furcellata requires live larvae of S. litura as an essential component of their diet. MATERIALS AND METHODS A colony of C. furcellata was maintained in the laboratory. The bugs were reared mainly on the larvae of Tenebrio molitor and the diet was supplemented with larvae of S. litura fed from

time to time. Larvae of S. litura were reared on artificial diet; the formula for the artificial diet has been reported by Hussan and Sivapragasam (1997). Newly moulted second instara nymphs of C. furcellata were used to initiate the experiment (first instar nymphs are not predaceous and required only water). Ten nymphs were placed in 15x8x9 cm plastic cage. The bugs were fed ad libitum, dead prey were replaced daily. Water was also provided. The bugs were fed various prey combinations as follow: SL (control) : Instar 2 through 5 of C. furcellata fed larvae of S. litura 2SL : 2nd nymphal instar of C. furcellata fed larvae of S. litura while instar 3rd through 5th nymphal instars were fed mealworms 2,3SL : 2nd and 3rd nymphal instars of C. furcellata fed larvae of S. litura while instar 4th and 5th nymphal instars were fed mealworms 3,4,5SL : 2nd nymphal instar of C. furcellata fed mealworms while 3rd through 5th nymphal instars were fed larvae of S. litura 4,5SL : 2nd and 3rd nymphal instars of C. furcellata fed mealworms while 4th and 5th nymphal instars were fed larvae of S. litura The development time and survival rate of each instars were recorded. The fresh weight of one-day old adults was also obtained. The experiment was carried out using RCBD of five replicates. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Treatment means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Availability of caterpillars during the early instars is important in shortening the mean developmental time (Table 1). Treatments where the second instar nymph was given live caterpillars (2SL) were comparable to SL. This was also observed for nymph fed 2,3SL. Table 1. Mean (+SE) development time for the predaceous nymphs of C. furcellata fed different prey combinations Nymphal Prey combination instar SL (control) 2SL 2,3SL 3,4,5SL 4,5SL 2 3 4 5 2 to 5 4.80+0.20 c 4.30+0.27 b 3.68+0.10 b 6.03+0.25 a 18.81+0.51 b 5.18+0.18 bc 5.20+0.20 bc 5.60+0.23 ab 4.22+0.26 b 4.41+0.21 b 4.87+0.36 ab 4.05+0.32 ab 4.34+0.25 a 3.80+0.20 ab 6.25+0.21 a 5.89+0.26 a 5.71+0.13 a 19.70+0.67 b 19.83+0.56 ab 19.99+0.23 ab 5.78+0.20 a 5.41+0.37 a 4.34+0.13 a 5.98+0.41 a 21.51+0.68 a

Means within a row followed by the same letter are not significantly different (p>0.05; Least Significant Difference test)

The percentage of survival rate in each of the nymphal instars did not differ significantly among the treatments (Table 2). The lack of significant difference may be due to the high variability of the data.

Table 2. Mean (+ SE) percentage of survival rate of the predaceous nymphs of C. furcellata fed different prey combinations Nymphal Prey combination instar SL (control) 2SL 2,3SL 3,4,5SL 4,5SL 2 3 4 5 92.0+3.74 86.0+9.27 82.0+10.68 54.0+9.27 78.0+5.83 72.0+9.17 66.0+11.22 62.0+10.20 80.0+7.07 76.0+6.00 70.0+5.48 70.0+5.48 92.0+5.83 80.0+7.75 72.0+8.60 58.0+10.68 86.0+7.48 80.0+7.07 76.0+6.78 64.0+7.48

ANOVA revealed that mean percentage of survival rate of each nymphal instars are not significantly different (p>0.05; Least Significant Difference test)

Mean adult body weight attained by feeding the nymphal stage on the different prey combinations are summarized in Table 3. In general, adult body weight is influenced by the diet of the nymph. Nymphs that were offered caterpillars more often during the nymphal stage tended to produced heavier adults. Females that were fed caterpillars exclusively during the nymphal stage were significantly heavier (p<0.05) than those fed caterpillars only at certain instars (2SL, 2,3SL, 3,4,5SL and 4,5SL). The weight of adults females subjected to treatments 2SL and 2,3SL were significantly heavier (p<0.05) than those on the treatment 4,5SL. In males, highest weight was recorded on 2SL, 2,3SL or 3,4,5SL treatments. Table 3 Mean (+SE) weight (mg) for adult male and female of C. furcellata fed different prey combinations Prey combination Gender Male Female SL (control) 78.29 + 0.83 a 142.41 + 0.47 a 2SL 77.20 + 2.59 a 131.07 + 0.29 b 2,3SL 73.90 + 2.44 ab 131.12 + 0.12 b 3,4,5SL 73.20 + 1.37 ab 128.93 + 1.64 b 4,5SL 69.50 + 1.06 b 122.08 + 1.39 c
Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different (p>0.05; Least Significant Difference test)

The quality of diet of the early nymphal instars (instars 2 and 3) of C. furcellata is important. For rearing purpose, only the second instar nymphs of C. furcellata is necessary to feed with quality food, i.e the live larvae of S. litura fed on artificial diet, while other instars mey be fed mealworms without affecting its growth and survival. REFERENCES Chapman, R.F. 1969. The insects: Structure and Function. English University Press, London. 819pp. Hussan, A.K. and A. Sivapragasam. 1997. A method to rear Cotesia plutellae using DBM larvae on artificial diet. In: Collaborative Vegetable Research in Southeast Asia. Proc. AVNET-II Final Workshop. Pp212-218 Scriber,J.M. and F. Slansky,Jr. 1981. The nutritional ecology of immature insects. Ann.Rev.Ent. 26:183-211. Sipayung, A., R. Desmier de Chenon and Ps. Sudharto. 1992. Study of the EocantheconaCantheconidea (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae, Asopinae) predator complex in Indonesia. J.Pl. Prot. in Tropics 9(1):85-103.

Ulina, E.S. 2000. Developing a Diet of Caterpillars and Mealworms for Mass Rearing of the Predatory Bug Cantheconidea furcellata (Wolff.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). M.Agr.Sc Thesis, University Putra Malaysia. 129 pp. Ulina, E.S. and K.C. Khoo. 1999. Biological parameters of the predatory bug Cantheconidea furcellata Wolff. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) fed larvae of Spodoptera litura Fabr. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) reared on artificial diet and fresh foliage. Pages 114-116 in Proceedings 5th International Conferences on Plant Protection in the Tropics. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.