Artificial Adult Diet as a New Tool for Improving a Biocontrol Program with Predatory Hoverflies

Noémie Gonzalez (), Marc Fournier, Rosemarije Buitenhuis and Eric Lucas
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Noémie Gonzalez: Laboratoire de Lutte Biologique, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
Marc Fournier: Laboratoire de Lutte Biologique, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
Rosemarije Buitenhuis: Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, 4890 Victoria Ave. N., Box 4000, Vineland Station, ON L0R 2E0, Canada
Eric Lucas: Laboratoire de Lutte Biologique, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), CP 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: Syrphine hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphinae) are important predators of aphids in agricultural crops. While the use of flowering plants to enhance their efficacy is well established, recent research has developed an artificial diet for adult hoverflies consisting of a sugar solution and pollen in a dispenser. To ensure that the artificial diet is suitable to support hoverfly reproduction, a comparative analysis was conducted between a natural diet of flowering buckwheat plants versus an artificial diet consisting of artificial flowers (including honey solution and pollen), complemented by a sugar solution disperser. The study evaluated the fecundity, fertility, oviposition period, egg hatchability, and overall lifespan of the American hoverfly, Eupeodes americanus (Wiedemann 1830). The results indicate that the artificial diet does not negatively impact the reproductive parameters of E. americanus when compared to the buckwheat-based diet. Consequently, artificial diets emerge as a promising and more convenient alternative to flowering plants to support hoverflies in biological control strategies and for their mass rearing in research facilities and commercial insectaries.

Keywords: buckwheat; pollen; sugar; honey; adult; Syrphidae; oviposition; artificial diet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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