EFFECT OF PHOTOPERIOD ON THE INDUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF DIAPAUSE AND ON DEVELOPMENT OF THE PREDATORY BUG PODISUS-MACULIVENTRIS (HEM. PENTATOMIDAE)

The predatory bug Podisus maculiventris Say displays a reproductive di apause. In the laboratory, at 23 +/- 1 degrees C, when the pre-imagina l stages were reared on larvae of Galleria melonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) under a short photoperiod of 8L: 16D, diapause was induced in all adult females, whereas under a long photoperiod of 16L: 8D none entered diapause. Nymphal development was faster under the diapause-i nducing short photoperiod than under the diapause-averting long photop eriod. By contrast, embryonic development was faster under the long th an under the short photoperiod. Diapause maintenance was also under th e control of photoperiod. After a 10-d-period of chilling at 4 degrees C, diapause was quickly terminated in adults kept under long photoper iod whereas it was maintained in most of those kept under short photop eriod. The predation rate of non diapause or postdiapause adult female s was much higher than that of diapause females.