Ovarian development, fertility and fecundity in Podisus maculiventris Say (Heteroptera : Pentatomidae): an analysis of the impact of nymphal, adult, male and female nutritional source on reproduction

The rate of ovarian maturation, stages of follicle development, fertility a nd fecundity of the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Hetero ptera: Pentatomidae) were examined under various nymphal and adult feeding regimes, In Heteroptera, both juvenile and adult nutrition potentially impa ct on reproductive development and fecundity. Natural larval prey (Trichopl usia ni Hubner) and an insect-free artificial diet (liver and egg-based) we re used as food sources for nymphal and adult P. maculiventris. Results sho wed that nymphal and adult food source both played a significant role in ov arian development and reproductive output of females. The nymphal food sour ce played a significant role in the process of oogenesis, as seen by the fo rmation of follicles at the pre-vitellogenic stage. The adult food source s ignificantly influenced the process of vitellogenesis as seen by the number of vitellogenic and chorionated follicles present within the ovarioles. Fe eding on larval prey, at the adult stage only, improved the rate of ovarian maturation, including the number of vitellogenic follicles. However, the r ole of nymphal food still remained significant for the reproductive output of mated females (i.e., number of eggs and percent hatch). Feeding the arti ficial diet to adults that were reared as nymphs on larval prey reduced bot h ovarian maturation rate and fecundity to levels significantly lower than females fed larval prey during both nymphal and adult stages. The reproduct ive capacity of prey-fed females was not affected by mating with diet-fed m ales and the reproductive capacity of diet-fed females was not improved by mating with prey-fed males.