STORAGE OF NONDIAPAUSING CHRYSOPERLA-EXTERNA ADULTS - INFLUENCE ON SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION

Chrysoperla externa, a species with great potential for mass rearing a nd use in augmentative biological control, harbors traits that underli e efficient longterm storage. (1) Although they did not enter diapause , adults of the Honduran population that were kept at 10 degrees C had a ''shelf life'' (high survival) of at least 4 months. (2) After stor age, reproduction began quickly, predictably and with little variation among individuals. (3) The poststorage oviposition rate was high and declined only when adults had been stored for 4 months. Some other C. externa populations exhibit diapause and therefore may have a much lon ger shelf life. (C) 1997 Academic Press.