Feeding preference of the southern green stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on tomato fruit

Feeding preference of the southern green stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on tomato fruit

1988

A:PS

The feeding preference of the southern green stink bug (SGSB), Nezara viridula (L.), for size and maturity of tomato fruit, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., was studied using stylet sheaths as indicators of feeding frequency. Among green fruit of varying sizes, SGSB fed less frequently on fruit of intermediate size. The number of stylet sheaths per square centimeter of fruit surface was inversely proportional to the size of the fruit. The average number of stylet sheaths deposited daily by individual SGSB ranged from 7.9 to 9.8 in laboratory and field choice feeding experients, with the exception of one laboratory experiment. Among mature green and red tomatoes of the same size, SGSB significantly preferred green fruit to red fruit and fed longer and more frequently on green than on red fruit. Mean feeding time and mean duration of proboscis insertion were similar in both sexes. [AS]

v.81(2):522-526, JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY

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