Development of Dicyphus cerastii Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae) at different temperatures and hosts: preliminary results

Abstract: The mirid Dicyphus cerastii naturally occurs in protected and open field horticultural crops along the Portuguese mainland territory. This species is often found early in the season on Cape gooseberry Physalis peruviana, and tobacco Nicotiana tabacum. This species is an important natural enemy, in tomato greenhouses, in the Portuguese Oeste region. In order to enhance conservation biological control with D. umbertae more information is needed about its non-crop host preferences. For that, the two non-crop hosts mentioned above were compared to tomato, at three different temperatures (15 °C, 20 °C, 25 °C), with and without animal food. Biological parameters such as mortality, instar duration, longevity and number of eggs were compared.