Influence of larval food consumption on the fecundity of the lacewingChrysoperla carnea

The effects of food consumption on larval growth and development and adult fecundity of the common green lacewing,Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens), were studied on two populations of larvae derived from either a laboratory colony or from field-collected adults. The number of eggs of the Mediterranean flour moth,Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller), provided to individual lacewing larvae was varied to produce three food-supply treatments: low, intermediate, and high. Food-supply was found to influence larval growth and development and adult fecundity. Lacewing larvae provided with an overabundance of moth eggs developed faster than larvae provided with fewer moth eggs than they could have consumed. Adult females that developed from the high feeding treatment had a substantially shorter preoviposition period, a later decline in egg deposition, and a significantly higher fecundity than adults arising from the other feeding classes. Unrestricted feeding by adult lacewings on an artificial diet did not compensate for prior low feeding regimes. The overall performance of the lacewings derived from the laboratory colony was substantially poorer than that of the lacewings derived from field-collected adults. This effect was accentuated when the larvae were given a low food-supply. This overall decrease in vigor is attributed to inbreeding of the laboratory culture over a one year period. These finds are relevant to mass rearing programs for this biological control agent.