Factitious prey and artificial diets for predatory lady beetles: current situation,obstacles, and approaches for improvement: a review |
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| Authors: | Yuan-Xing Sun Ya-Nan Hao Eric W. Riddick |
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| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, and Key Laboratory of Northwest Loess Plateau Crop Pest Management of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&2. F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China;3. Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Integrated Management of the Ministry of Education, Entomological Museum, Northwest A&4. National Biological Control Laboratory, Jamie Whitten Delta States Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Stoneville, MS, USA |
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| Abstract: | Predatory lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are important natural enemies of many pests in crop ecosystems throughout the world. Although several species are currently mass-reared and sold by biocontrol companies, there is an urgent need to reduce rearing costs. Cost-effective mass rearing of lady beetles involves the use of factitious prey/foods or artificial diets in lieu of natural prey. This review summarises the literature on the various kinds of factitious prey/foods and artificial diets as well as the feeding efficiency of predatory lady beetles. Factitious prey/foods generally satisfy the nutritional requirements for development of lady beetles, and lepidopteran immatures are the most widely used species. However, artificial diets, based on vertebrate protein and devoid of arthropod constituents, often yield disappointing results. We also highlight several successful examples and novel approaches for improving feeding efficiency. Moreover, available approaches and perspectives for speeding up the development and screening of cost-effective diets for mass rearing are stated in this review. |
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| Keywords: | Biological control Coccinellidae feeding efficiency mass production reproduction |
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