Age-Dependent Fecundity and Fertility Life Tables of the
Predator Brontocoris tabidus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)
Under Field Conditions
Author(s) :J. C. Zanuncio, W. P. Lemos, M. C. Lacerda, T. V. Zanuncio, J. E.
Serrãão, and Eric Bauce
Source: Journal of Economic Entomology, 99(2):401-407. 2006.
Published By: Entomological Society of America
DOI: 10.1603/0022-0493-99.2.401
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1603/0022-0493-99.2.401
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FOREST ENTOMOLOGY
Age-Dependent Fecundity and Fertility Life Tables of the
Predator Brontocoris tabidus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)
Under Field Conditions
J. C. ZANUNCIO,1 W. P. LEMOS,1, 2 M. C. LACERDA,3 T. V. ZANUNCIO,1 J. E. SERRÃO,4
5
AND ERIC BAUCE
J. Econ. Entomol. 99(2): 401Ð407 (2006)
ABSTRACT Reproductive potential, longevity, life expectancy, and fertility life tables of Brontocoris
tabidus (Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), a predator of lepidopteran defoliators in eucalyptus
(Eucalyptus spp.) plantations, were studied in the Þeld. After a 50-d preoviposition period (emergence
of adults to the deposition of the Þrst egg mass), ovipositional activity of B. tabidus continued until
females died at 160 d. Females laid an average of 4.2 eggs per day and 601.1 eggs in a lifetime. Gross
and net reproductive rates were 216.7 and 75.8 females, respectively. Generation time was 146.1 d, the
period for doubling the population was 23.4 d, intrinsic rate was 0.03, and Þnite population increase
was 1.03. Number of females per generation increased at 33.4 times. Results from our Þeld studies
indicate that B. tabidus has greater potential reproduction, oviposition period, and longevity than was
expected from previous laboratory experiments. This suggests that B. tabidus has potential as a
biological control agent to limit economically damaging pests in eucalyptus plantations.
KEY WORDS Asopinae, biological control, Heteroptera, predator, life tables
The lepidopteran defoliators Eupseudosoma aberrans
Schaus, Eupseudosoma involuta (Sepp.) (Lepidoptera:
Arctiidae), Glena bipennaria Guenée, Oxydia vesulia
(Cramer), Thyrinteina leucocerae Rindge (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), and Sarsina violascens (HerrichSchaeffer) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) (Zanuncio
et al. 1994b, 2000b, 2001; Dorval et al. 1995; Fagundes
et al. 1996; Pereira et al. 2001) are among the most
important economic pests of Eucalyptus spp. in Brazil
(Zanuncio et al. 1993). Release of natural enemies
represents an important biological tool to reduce economic damage resulting from insect defoliator outbreaks and to limit the use of chemical insecticides.
Generalist predators of the family Pentatomidae, subfamily Asopinae are generally efÞcient in limiting the
impact of insect defoliators in eucalyptus forest ecosystems where several defoliator species can occur
simultaneously (Zanuncio et al. 1994a, Assis et al. 1998,
Lemos et al. 2001).
Predatory Pentatomidae are still seldomly used
(Coll and Ruberson 1998, De Clercq 2000), but
species of this group are important for integrated pest
1 Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de
Viçosa, 36571-000, Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
2 Laboratório de Entomologia, Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, 66095100, Belém, State of Pará, Brazil.
3 Departamento de Fitotecnia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,
36571-000, Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
4 Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa,
36571-000, Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
5 Faculte de Foresterie et de Geomatique (CRBF) 2121a Pavillon
Abitibi-Price Universite Laval Quebec Qc Canada G1K-7P4.
management programs. Podisus maculiventris (Say)
and Perillus bioculatus (F.) in North America and
Europe; Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas), Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret), and Supputius cincticeps (Stäl) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in South America (De
Clercq 2000; Jusselino-Filho et al. 2001, 2003; Westich
and Hough-Goldstein 2001; Wittmeyer et al. 2001;
Coudron et al. 2002; Oliveira et al. 2002; Lemos et al.
2003, 2005; Legaspi 2004; Medeiros et al. 2004), and
Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in Asia (De Clercq 2000) are important for
biological control programs. Brontocoris tabidus
(Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is one of the
most common species of this group in Brazil (Zanuncio et al. 1994a, 1996), with great potential as a biological control agent against lepidopteran defoliators
(Zanuncio et al. 1994a, 1996, 2000a; Jusselino-Filho
et al. 2001). Some studies have been conducted on this
predatory species (Gonçalves et al. 1990; Barcelos et
al. 1993, 1994; Jusselino-Filho et al. 2001) with artiÞcial
diets (Zanuncio et al. 1996) and Eucalyptus spp. seedlings in the laboratory as supplementary food to improve reproductive performance (Zanuncio et al.
2000a).
Life tables are used to calculate vital statistics of
biological control agents (Carey 1993, Southwood
1995, Harari et al. 1997, Medeiros et al. 2000). These
tables can describe duration and survival at each life
stage. Daily fecundity data generated by these tables
allow prediction of the population size and age structure of a natural enemy at any time (Southwood 1995).
0022-0493/06/0401Ð0407$04.00/0 䉷 2006 Entomological Society of America
402
Table 1.
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
Vol. 99, no. 2
Meteorological data prevailing during the experimental period
Mo
Air temp
(⬚C)
Max temp
(⬚C)
Min. temp
(⬚C)
RH
(%)
Daily rainfall
(mm)
Brightness
(h)
Mar.
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Mean
23.00
21.86
19.12
17.92
16.84
18.33
19.07
20.49
22.18
19.55
30.00
29.86
26.31
25.61
25.00
26.53
25.87
26.72
27.70
26.77
19.07
16.90
14.69
13.30
11.70
12.41
14.28
16.19
18.68
14.86
80.79
77.65
78.96
80.71
77.91
74.81
74.05
74.29
81.73
77.58
1.07
1.12
1.91
0.01
0.06
0.21
2.67
4.91
7.71
2.29
11.88
11.53
11.02
10.76
10.87
11.03
11.89
12.49
13.00
11.61
Data were provided by the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Municipality of Viçosa, State of Minas
Gerais, Brazil.
Thus, the objective of the current study was to evaluate fecundity, life expectancy variables, and fertility
tables for B. tabidus in Eucalyptus grandis (L.) plants
in the Þeld.
Materials and Methods
This research was carried out in the experimental
forest of the Departamento de Biologia Animal of the
Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) in the Municipality of Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Temperature, humidity, rainfall, and photoperiod were
monitored daily (Table 1) with data obtained from the
climatic station at the UFV.
Age-Dependent Fecundity. Nymphs of B. tabidus
were obtained from a mass-rearing facility of the biological control laboratory of theInstituto de Biotecnologia Aplicada à Agropecuária (BIOAGRO) where
this predator is reared under controlled conditions
(25 ⫾ 2⬚C, 70 ⫾ 5% RH, and a photoperiod of 12:12
[L:D] h). Egg masses and Þrst instars of B. tabidus
were kept in petri dishes (9.0 by 1.5 cm) with a cotton
ball soaked in distilled water. One hundred second
instars of B. tabidus were individually placed in a
separate white sleeve cage on an E. grandis plant in the
Þeld (Fig. 1; temperature, relative humidity, and pho-
Fig. 1. Sleeve cages used in the Þeld to rear B. tabidus in
E. grandis branches. (A) Plastic tube of odontological anesthesic. (B) “Organza” white cage. (C) E. grandis branch.
toperiod are given in Table 1). E. grandis and other
pentatomid predators were been kept in the Þeld
under these conditions because they represent viable
and efÞcient conditions to rear B. tabidus for mass
release. Also, this method reduces labor and rears the
predators under similar conditions as those prevailing
in the infested plantations.
Mortality and molting of B. tabidus were evaluated
daily. Ecdysis was conÞrmed by external morphological criteria (genitalia) of the predator (Barcelos et al.
1993) or by the presence of exuvia inside sleeve cages.
Adult predators were weighed and sexed within 24 h
after adult emergence.
Twenty B. tabidus adult females weighing at least
120 mg were selected and mated with males 4 d after
adult emergence. The 120-mg threshold of female
weight was adopted to be able establish comparison of
our results with those from previous studies conducted in the laboratory (Barcelos et al. 1994, Gomides 1999, Zanuncio et al. 2000a, Jusselino-Filho et al.
2001, Oliveira 2001). These studies used similar female
weight threshold because, unlike male weight, B. tabidus female weight is known to be positively correlated with fecundity (Zanuncio et al. 1996, Oliveira et
al. 2005). One male and one female were introduced
and kept per sleeve cage until the death of female.
Twenty sleeve cages were maintained on different
branches of the same eucalypt plant in the Þeld. If the
male died before the female, a new male was introduced into the cage as recommended by Assis et al.
(1998).
Each day, B. tabidus was provided with one pupa of
Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and
fresh water in a 2.5-ml plastic tube (odontological
anesthetic type), Þxed in the sleeve cage on a eucalyptus branch with adhesive tape. Sleeve cages were
observed every day, and the following parameters
were recorded: number of egg masses laid, number of
eggs per egg masses, number of nymphs obtained per
egg mass, preoviposition period, oviposition period,
postoviposition period, and female adult longevity.
Nymphs of B. tabidus have Þve stadia in the Þeld.
The longevity of B. tabidus females was divided
into 1) preoviposition period, 2) fecundity peak, and
3) fecundity decline as proposed by Morales-Ramos
April 2006
ZANUNCIO ET AL.: LIFE-FERTILITY TABLE OF B. tabidus
and Cate (1992) and used by Medeiros et al. (2000) for
the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). Period of maximum fecundity
started when ⬎50% of the females had deposited their
Þrst egg mass and ended when ⬇60% of their total
number of eggs were laid, that is, when realized fecundity began to decline (Morales-Ramos and Cate
1992). The date and duration of fecundity peak were
determined using oviposition data (from emergence
of adult female to female death) for each of the 20
B. tabidus females used in the experiment. Fecundity as function of age was expressed by age classes of
7 d. Means and standard error of the number of eggs
per female were computed daily for each age class.
Life and Fertility Tables. Life expectancy and fertility table parameters were calculated. These parameters include mortality (qx), survival rate (sx), and
probability of survival from birth to age x (lx) per day
per age class during immature and adult stages. Moreover, the following statistics were computed: the intrinsic rate of population increase (rm) (population
rate of increase per unit of time), which was calculated
with the formula of Krebs (1994): rm ⫽ ln(Ro)/T;
gross reproductive rate (GRR) (number of females
produced per female without considering the survival
rate of immature stages), which was calculated with
the formula of Price (1998):
冘
y
GRR ⫽
mx ;
x⫽0
where mx is the number of females produced per
female of age x and the following older class y; net
reproductive rate (R0) (number of females produced
per female during its life), which was calculated with
the formula of Krebs (1994):
冘
403
y
R0 ⫽
lx 䡠 mx ;
x⫽0
Þnite rate of increase (␭) (number of females added to
the population per female of this predator per unit of
time), which was calculated with the formula of Krebs
(1994): ␭ ⫽ antilog (0.4343 ⫻ rm); generation time (T)
(time between the birth of the parents to that of their
progeny), which was calculated with the formula:
冘
y
T⫽
x 䡠 l x 䡠 lm x/R 0 ;
x⫽0
doubling time (DT) calculated with the formula of
Krebs (1994): DT ⫽ ln(2)/rm; and reproductive values
(RVx) (contribution of a female of age x to the future
population), which was calculated per age class with
the formula of Krebs (1994):
冘
y
RV x ⫽
共l t/l x兲m t ;
t⫽x
where x is the base age class, y, the next older age class;
and t, the age between x and y. In the current study,
we used the age-speciÞc life table approach instead of
the age-stage life table. Although the age-stage life
table is theoretically a better approach than the agespeciÞc life table, the age-speciÞc life table is not only
adequate for the purpose of this study but also way
more feasible in the Þeld. Moreover, because our
study was conducted using sleeve-caged insects, the
age-stage life table approach would have force us to
regularly open the cage with the risk of loosing and
disturbing the insects. This could have result in major
bias in the results.
Fig. 2. Age-dependent fecundity and natality (mx) of B. tabidus fed T. molitor pupae on E. grandis plants in the Þeld.
Observations were made on 20 adult females. Vertical bars indicate standard error. Age class, 7 d. Natality (mx) is the number
of female progeny per female of age class x. Municipality of Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
404
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
Vol. 99, no. 2
Table 2. Life expectancy and fertility table of B. tabidus fed pupae of T. molitor reared in E. grandis plantation (Municipality of
Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil)
x
Lx
dx
lx
Sx
ex
mx
lx 䡠 mx
sx 䡠 mx
VRx
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
45*
27
27
27
27
27
20
20
20
20
20
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
18
18
17
17
15
15
13
13
11
9
7
6
6
3
3
2
1
18
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
2
2
2
1
0
3
0
1
1
1
1.00
0.60
0.60
0.60
0.60
0.60
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.42
0.40
0.40
0.38
0.38
0.33
0.33
0.29
0.29
0.24
0.20
0.16
0.13
0.13
0.07
0.07
0.04
0.02
0.60
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.74
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.95
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.95
1.00
0.94
1.00
0.88
1.00
0.87
1.00
0.85
0.82
0.78
0.86
1.00
0.50
1.00
0.67
0.50
0.00
13.67
21.44
20.44
19.44
18.94
18.44
23.73
21.73
20.73
19.73
18.73
18.68
17.68
16.68
15.68
14.68
13.68
12.68
11.68
10.68
9.68
9.19
8.19
7.65
6.65
6.47
5.47
5.23
4.23
3.91
3.67
3.57
3.08
2.08
2.67
1.67
1.25
1.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.96
2.58
3.21
3.86
5.22
6.02
7.79
6.21
11.73
7.91
8.71
9.89
10.01
7.84
12.79
11.14
11.15
16.33
9.68
11.18
9.16
6.67
4.07
6.02
5.52
11.11
1.42
8.15
0.45
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.43
1.15
1.43
1.71
2.20
2.54
3.29
2.62
4.95
3.34
3.68
4.18
4.23
3.31
5.12
4.45
4.21
6.17
3.23
3.73
2.65
1.92
0.99
1.20
0.86
1.48
0.19
0.54
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.96
2.58
3.21
3.66
5.22
6.02
7.79
6.21
11.73
7.91
8.71
9.89
10.01
7.42
12.79
10.51
11.15
14.40
9.68
9.69
9.16
5.63
3.33
4.68
4.73
11.11
0.71
8.15
0.30
0.00
0.00
75.81
126.36
126.36
126.36
126.36
126.36
170.58
170.58
169.62
167.04
163.83
168.40
163.18
157.16
149.37
143.17
131.44
123.53
114.82
104.94
94.93
91.93
79.15
72.01
60.86
50.47
40.79
34.17
25.01
21.69
21.53
19.94
16.83
5.72
8.59
0.45
0.00
0.00
Egg
Nymph
Adult
X, age class (7 d); Lx, number of survivors at the beginning of age class X (* represents the number of individuals necessary to obtain 20
adult females, considering survival, egg and nymphal stages); dx, number of individuals dead during age class X; lx, survival rate at age class 0
to the beginning of age X; sx, survival rate at age class X; ex, life expectancy at age class X.; mx, number of females progeny per female of age
class X; sx, survival rate during age class X; and VRx, individual reproductive value at age class X.
B. tabidus was conÞrmed by Dr. D. B. Thomas
(USDAÐARS, Weslaco, TX), and voucher specimens
were deposited in the Laboratory of Biological Control
of the BIOAGRO at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa,
Municipality of Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Results
Age-Dependent Fecundity. Preoviposition period
(from the emergence of adults to the deposition of the
Þrst egg mass) of B. tabidus was 50.2 ⫾ 8.1 d, with
fecundity peak of 70 d. Females laid an average of
4.2 ⫾ 0.4 eggs per female per day. The fecundity peak
started when females were 47 d old and ended when
they reached 117 d. Fecundity decline started at day
118 and ended at the death of female.
The oviposition period and longevity (period between the emergence and the death of the adults) of
B. tabidus females was 108.8 ⫾ 8.9 and 160.2 ⫾ 9.4 d,
with 601.1 ⫾ 69.7 eggs and 387.5 ⫾ 65.2 nymphs produced per female, respectively. These results indicate
that, on average, each B. tabidus female produced
4.1 ⫾ 0.6 eggs and 2.6 ⫾ 0.5 nymphs per day during the
oviposition period.
Higher fecundity of B. tabidus was recorded when
females were 127Ð133 and 106 Ð112 d old (Fig. 2), with
7.6 ⫾ 1.2 and 6.8 ⫾ 0.7 eggs and 5.2 ⫾ 1.1 and 4.3 ⫾ 0.7
nymphs produced per female per day during these
periods.
Life and Fertility Tables. Survival rate (lx) during
the young stages (egg to adult) of B. tabidus was 0.4
(Table 2), with signiÞcant decrease from day 1 to 7,
similar values until day 42, a sharp decrease until day
49, and a gradual decrease with aging of B. tabidus
females (Fig. 3). These results suggest that the survival
curve of B. tabidus is of type III (Price 1998), with high
mortality during the immature stages. Potential fecundity of B. tabidus was higher, especially at age classes
22 (106-d-old females) and 25 (127-d-old females),
with higher numbers of female nymphs per female adults
(mx of 16.3) when adults of this predator were 127 d old.
Duration of B. tabidus generation (T), that is, the
period from hatching of parental nymphs until production of progeny, was 140.1 d under Þeld conditions.
April 2006
ZANUNCIO ET AL.: LIFE-FERTILITY TABLE OF B. tabidus
405
Fig. 3. Survival (lx) of B. tabidus fed T. molitor pupae reared on E. grandis plants in the Þeld. Observations were made
on 20 adult females. Age class, 7 d. Survival (lx) is the survival rate from age class 0 to beginning of age x. Municipality of
Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
These results indicate that this predator can have at
least 2.5 generations per year with a GRR of 216.7 eggs
per female and a net reproduction (R0) of 75.9 progenies per female. Values of rm and (␭) were 0.03 per
day and 1.03, respectively. B. tabidus survival from
young to adult stages was lx ⫽ 0.4 with lx ⫻ R0 ⫽ 33.4
adult progenies per female during one generation.
Discussion
Age-Dependent Fecundity. Adults of B. tabidus in
the Þeld sleeve cages had longer periods of preoviposition, oviposition, and longevity and higher fecundity
(number of eggs per female) than those adults reared
in the laboratory (Barcelos et al. 1994, Gomides 1999,
Zanuncio et al. 2000a, Jusselino-Filho et al. 2001, Oliveira 2001).
The longer preoviposition period is probably due to
lower temperature and rainfall in the Þeld during the
experimental period (Table 1). Also, contrary to laboratory condition where temperature is kept constant,
in the Þeld nighttime temperature tends to be lower
than daytime temperature. P. nigrispinus and S. cincticeps are known to exhibit longer preoviposition
periods at temperatures below 25⬚C, which might be
due to lower metabolic activity when temperatures
decline (Didonet et al. 1996). Longer longevity of
B. tabidus in the Þeld is important because it indicates
that the period of predation exerted by this predator
is longer in the Þeld than expected from laboratory
studies. Oviposition period and longevity of B. tabidus
females were 108.8 and 160.2 d, with 601.1 eggs and
387.5 nymphs produced per female and 4.1 eggs and
2.6 nymphs produced per day, respectively.
Fecundity of B. tabidus can vary with feeding regime. This phenomenon also can explain, at least in
part, the differences detected between results ob-
tained from laboratory and Þeld experiments. B. tabidus fed T. molitor larvae and seedlings of Eucalyptus
grandis Hill ex Maiden and T. molitor or Musca domestica (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae had ⬇98 eggs
per female (Gomides 1999, Jusselino-Filho et al. 2001).
Barcelos et al. (1994), Zanuncio et al. (2000), and
Oliveira (2001) obtained 300, 220, and 183 eggs per
female of this predator. Our results indicate that the
egg production of B. tabidus was 6.1 and 2.7 times
higher in the Þeld than what was documented by
Jusselino-Filho et al. (2001) and Zanuncio et al.
(2000a) in the laboratory. This production can be due
to longer longevity and oviposition period of B. tabidus
females under natural conditions because number
of eggs per female also depends on their longevity
(Zanuncio et al. 2000a). B. tabidus was fed during the
whole period of this study with T. molitor. However,
better development and reproduction of this predator
may be expected if B. tabidus is fed with its natural
prey (lepidopteran larvae) in the Þeld. Further studies
aiming at testing the impact of feeding on various prey
on B. tabidus biological performances could contribute to deÞne better the actual potential of this predator in biological insect defoliator control programs in
eucalypt plantations.
B. tabidus potential fecundity was highest when
females were 127Ð133 and 106 Ð112 d old (Fig. 2), with
7.6 and 6.8 eggs and 5.2 and 4.3 nymphs produced per
day per female. Fecundity of B. tabidus was 3 to 4 times
higher than that of Sarsina violascens (Herrich-Schaeffer) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) and Glena unipennaria (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), with
150.6 ⫾ 9.2 and 201.4 ⫾ 26.8 eggs per female, respectively (Zanuncio et al. 1992, Santos et al. 1996). This
result has important implications in biological control
programs because efÞcient predators should exhibit at
406
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
least similar or higher fecundity than their prey (Huffaker et al. 1976).
Life and Fertility Tables. B. tabidus showed fecundity peaks, especially at age classes 25 and 22, with
higher number of females produced per female when
this predator was 127 d old (mx of 16.3). Fertility tables
are appropriate to study the dynamics of animal populations because they can estimate parameters related
to the growth potential of a population. This knowledge is important when studying insect population
dynamics and when developing efÞcient pest management tactics (Maia et al. 2000).
The rm value represents the rate of potential increase of a population under optimal environmental
conditions when fecundity and survival are maximal
(optimal zone of development) (Birch 1948). The
success of a species depends on this value (Thomazini
and Berti Filho 2000), and rm is the most important
statistics of life tables because it allows comparison of
the growth potential of a species, evaluation of the
role of a natural enemy, and veriÞcation of whether a
species will be successful (Price 1998). P. nigrispinus
showed an rm of 0.07 at 25⬚C when fed caterpillars of
Alabama argillacea (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Medeiros et al. 2000). In our Þeld study, the
B. tabidus rm was 0.03. The high value of rm of P.
nigrispinus indicates that this insect has high potential
in biological programs.
The net reproductive rate (R0) and rm of B. tabidus
obtained from our Þeld experiment suggests that this
predator possesses adequate characteristics (e.g., longevity and fast population increase) for biological control programs, compared with its prey.
Reproductive values (RVx) as a function of age
classes show that it is possible to choose the best age
to release B. tabidus in the Þeld. Maximum values of
RVx (170.6) occurred during age classes 7 and 8 when
adults of this predator were 0.0 Ð14 d old (Table 2).
Results from our study demonstrate the B. tabidus
is a candidate with potential for use in biological control programs. This insect can be easily mass reared,
and its populations can increase very rapidly in the
Þeld because of its longevity and high reproductive
rate, as observed in this study. Further Þeld studies
should be conducted to determine the number of prey
consumed by B. tabidus per unit time. Also, the possible inßuence of the type of prey consumed by this
predator should be addressed to evaluate its potential
under various situations of insect pest problem in
eucalypt plantations.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientṍÞco e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nṍvel Superior (CAPES),
and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas
Gerais (FAPEMIG) for funding.
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Received 11 August 2005; accepted 20 December 2005.