Life history of Oplostomus haroldi (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) under laboratory conditions and a description of its third instar larva

The life history of Oplostomus haroldi (Witte), a recently reported pest of honeybee colonies in East Africa, was studied for the first time under laboratory conditions. Adult O. haroldi collected from beehives in the coastal part of Kenya were reared on a mixture of moist sterilized soil and cow du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of tropical insect science 2012-03, Vol.32 (1), p.56-63
Main Authors: Fombong, Ayuka T., Haas, Fabian, Ndegwa, Paul N., Irungu, Lucy W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apis mellifera
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cattle manure
Coleoptera
Dung
Entomology
Life history
Life Sciences
Relative humidity
Research Paper
Scarabaeidae
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Summary:The life history of Oplostomus haroldi (Witte), a recently reported pest of honeybee colonies in East Africa, was studied for the first time under laboratory conditions. Adult O. haroldi collected from beehives in the coastal part of Kenya were reared on a mixture of moist sterilized soil and cow dung. At 25 ± 2 °C, 50 ± 5% relative humidity and a 10 h light-14 h dark photoperiod, the laid eggs took 11.9 ± 1.3 days to hatch into a curved pear-shaped scarabaeiform larva with a well-developed head and thoracic legs. The first, second and third larval instars lasted 14.6 ± 2.6, 17.5 ± 2.4 and 34.6 ± 2.4 days, respectively. The pupal stage, which was marked by formation of a mud cocoon, lasted 31.1 ± 6.7 days with the adults surviving for 2–6 months under laboratory conditions, suggesting that the beetle is multivoltine. A detailed taxonomic description of the external morphology of the third instar larva is provided.
ISSN:1742-7584
1742-7592
DOI:10.1017/S1742758412000021