Life-History of Chrysoperla rufilabris (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) Provided Sweetpotato Whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) and Other Food

We studied predation, development, longevity, survival, body length, head width, body weight, and prey preference of the predator, Chrysoperla rufilabris (Burmeister) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) feeding on the sweetpotato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae), an artificial diet (meridic casein-yeast), and eggs of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and Manduca sexta (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). C. rufilabris larvae attacked an average of 532 SPW per day when prey was mainly eggs. Development of C. rufilabris larvae was longer when SPW, aphids, or an artificial diet alone was provided. However, with a combination of eggs and first instars of SPW and an artificial diet or S. cerealella eggs, development of larvae was shortened with increased survivorship, adult emergence, and body weight. Larvae of C. rufilabris preferred S. cerealella eggs over H. zea and M. sexta eggs or B. tabaci. An artificial diet may be an appropriate supplementary food for rearing C. rufilabris where labor costs are high. The impact of C. rufilabris on sweetpotato whitefly population dynamics is discussed.