Técnica de criação massal de Diabrotica speciosa (Gemar, 1824) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

Diabrotica speciosa is a pest of great agricultural importance in Brazil. It causes damage in many cultures from the larval stage to adulthood, being a polyphagous plague. During larva stage, it causes damage to the roots, while in adulthood; it causes damage to the aerial parts of the plant. The objective was to improve the mass rearing technique of D. speciosa in the laboratory in order to provide material for bioassay management of this insect pest. Adults of D. speciosa were collected in the field and placed in cages into camera type B.O.D. The eggs were deposited in lined Petri plates. When the eggs hatched, the larvae were transferred to a container containing vermiculite and fed with seminal roots of popcorn, for the insects fulfilled their immature cycle. The results showed that median days for egg phases development (beginning of laying to hatching) was 9 days and larvae to pupae period (until the emergence) was 26 days. The viability represented by the ratio of eggs to the number of emerged adults was only 22.58%. Thus, the mass rearing method tested was not viable for mass production of D. speciosa.