International Journal of Food Safety and Public Health

African Journal of Biology ISSN 2167-0413 Vol. 2 (2), pp. 130-142, February, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effects of food type on adult performance of black blister beetle Meloe proscarabaeus (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Dodi Fakhr Elwi¹*, Mohamed Atta Hosny², Ayman Waked¹, Tamer  Rizk Zaki¹

¹Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

²Desert Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt.

E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 5 January, 2015

Abstract

The black blister beetle Meloe proscarabaeus wa s firstly recorded in Egypt 1970s. The current study was carried out to inve stigate the effect of different host plants on the adult performance parameters. Feeding on the pea Pisum sativum detrimentally affected the survival potential because 100% female mortality and 80% male mortality were recorded. On the other hand, the lettuce Lactuca sativa was found suitable for the beetle survivorship. The longe st total longevity of both sexes wa s recorded after feeding on L. sativa but wa s remarkably shortened by feeding on the clover Trifolium alexandrinum. On comparing with the faba bean Vicia faba, a slight increa se in the body weight was e stimated for both sexes after feeding on T. alexandrinum but a slight decrease after feeding on L. sativa or P. sativum, during the pre-oviposition (or pre-copulation) period. A different trend was detected during the oviposition (or copulation) period. Feeding on T. alexandrinum induced the females to be more fecund but feeding on L. sativa deleteriously reduced the fecundity. Higher hatchability was estimated by mother feeding on T. alexandrinum but lower hatchability was found on L. sativa.

Key words: ovarian maturation period, post-oviposition period, body weight, fecundity, egg-mass, fertility, Vicia faba, Trifolium alexandrinum, Lactuca sativa, Pisum sativum.