title: Combination of plant and insect eggs as food sources facilitates ovarian development in an omnivorous bug Apolygus lucorum (Hemiptera: Miridae).
abstract: Diet nutrient is considered as an important regulatory factor for reproduction of insects. To understand the effect of different food sources on the reproductive physiology of Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür), the ovarian development in adult females was investigated when they were fed on green beans (Gb), combination of green beans Phaseolus vulgaris L and Helicoverpa armigera eggs (GbHe), or H. armigera eggs (He). A female of A. lucorum has two ovaries, and each ovary contained seven yellowish ovarioles. Females fed on Gb or GbHe had larger ovaries and the ovarioles contained larger numbers of oocytes compared with those fed on He. Females in GeHe treatment has significantly higher number of follicles per ovary throughout the whole adult period compared with those in Gb or He treatment. Furthermore, the length of the best developed ovariole was affected by the diet type. The females fed on GbHe had the most developed ovarioles, with significantly longer ovarioles than those fed on Gb or He. A method was described to quantitatively score the degree of ovarian development in the current study. Similarly, the ovarian development scores were significantly higher for females in GbHe treatment than those in other two diet treatments. The ovarian development significantly delayed for females fed on He. Our results demonstrate that A. lucorum, as an omnivorous insect species, can acquire nutrients from both plant and animal origin food sources, and the combination of plants and animal food sources can significantly facilitate the ovary development of its females.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yunhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Kongming G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D061046:Biological Control Agents; D004032:Diet; D004531:Eggs; D005260:Female; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D009036:Moths; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000254:growth & development; D010053:Ovary / Q000254:growth & development; D027805:Phaseolus
chemical_list: D061046:Biological Control Agents