Oviposition of Quesada gigas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in coffee plants

Branches of coffee-plant were collected in Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso County, Minas Gerais State, at the Experimental Station of the Agricultural Research Company (Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuaria de Minas Gerais - EPAMIG), with the aim of studying various aspects of oviposition by Quesada gigas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). The number of branches with Q. gigas egg nests was analyzed, as well as the number of nests per branch, the eggs per nest and the diameter of the egg nest location on the branch. The preference for oviposition either on alive or dry branches and the size of the egg were assessed. Egg-laying occurred only on dry branches. The mean of the branch diameter on which the egg nests occurred was 2.5 +/- 0.53 mm. The number of eggs per nest averaged 13.2 +/- 4.9, and the number of egg nests per branch was 2.2 +/- 1.74. The eggs were 1.9 +/- 0.08 mm long by 0.5 +/- 0.04 mm wide. The largest diameters of the branches containing egg nests were found on the upper third of the trees, as well as the greatest amount of branches with egg nests, of egg nests per branch and of eggs per nest. The correlation relationship between all of the experiment variables was positive.

Aspectos biológicos de Cycloneda sanguínea (Coleóptera: Coccinellidae) alimentadas con pulgones criados en algodón transgénico Bollgard I

Cycloneda sanguinea is an important biological control agent of aphid cotton. The objective of this study was to evaluate the biological aspects of C. sanguinea fed with nymphs and adults of Aphis gossypii reared in DeltaOPAL and NuOPAL cultivars (Bollgard I). The experiment was conducted in the laboratory under controlled temperature (25 +/- 1 degrees C), humidity (70 +/- 10%) and photophase (12 hours). The experimental design was completely randomized, and treatments aphids fed on the two cultivars, and replicates 40 individuals. Each larva was individually until adult emergence of the predator in Petri dishes of 9 cm in diameter with moistened filter paper. For evaluation of individual adults were five couples newly emerged in plastic pots 12 cm in diameter and 9 cm tall, with filter paper for oviposition. The parameters evaluated were: duration and viability of the larval stage, pupal stage duration and survival, adult longevity, reproductive period, post-reproductive and total number of eggs per female. The duration of the larval stage of C. sanguinea was lower when fed aphids reared on the cultivar NuOPAL, while adult longevity and the reproductive period were higher. The female fertility and egg viability were also lower.