Survival rates of pupae of Oligota kashmirica benefica, a natural enemy of spider mites, in different rearing materials

Abstract

The survival rate was investigated for pupae of Oligota kashmirica benefica, a predator of spider mites, defined as the ratio of emerged adults to mature larvae, placed in four different rearing materials. When light colored andosol (50 g) was used as a rearing material, the survival rate of the pupae was low (22.1-36.9%), irrespective of the amount of water (10, 20 or 30 g) added to the rearing material. This was also the case for survival rates in sand (100 g) to which 5, 10, 15 and 20 g of water had been added (33.3-50%). In contrast, relatively high survival rates (52.8-83.0%) were obtained with cellulose powder (20 g) to which 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 g of water had been added. High survival rates were also obtained with vermiculite (40 g) to which 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g of water had been added (77.5-88.5%). No adults were obtained when water was not added to any of the four rearing materials. These results indicate that cellulose powder and vermiculite are suitable materials for rearing pupae of this insect species.