Laboratory Rearing Techniques for the Southern Corn Rootworm12

An artificial diet was developed for the adult stage of Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber and was used to sustain a laboratory colony for over a year. Black aquarium gravel was found to be a practical oviposition substrate for use in conjunction with rearing larvae on artificial diet. Eggs could be readily removed from this medium with sieves and surface-sterilized with sodium hypochlorite. Over 40% of the newly hatched larvae placed on the artificial diet used for the larval stage successfully completed larval development in 20 to 21 days, Larval cannibalism occurred, and over ⅓ of the larvae placed on the diet were eaten by other larvae. Following completion of immature development, larvae were transferred to a mixture of dampened vermiculite and sand for pupation, Slightly over 60% of the larvae placed on this substrate emerged as adults in 16 to 24 days. With the diets and techniques described, about 25% of the 1st-stage larvae survived to become adults. Approximately 59 days were required for completion of a generation.