A method for rearing the sorghum plant bug, Stenotus rubrovittatus (Matsumura) (Heteroptera: Miridae), with millet seedlings

The sorghum plant bug, Stenotus rubrovittatus, lays eggs and feeds on the spikelets of gramineous plants. To develop a simple method for rearing this insect under laboratory conditions, we applied millet Setaria italica seedlings both as a substrate for egg deposition and as food for nymphs and adults. Adult females laid eggs between the sheath leaf and the first leaf sheath, or on part of the fold blade of the first leaf. The growth period from egg hatching to adulthood was 12.1 days in females and 11.3 days in males under 25 degrees C and LD16:8 conditions. The adult emergence rate from first instar nymphs was 60%. The preoviposition period was 4.3 days. These results were similar to a previous report using wheat or Italian ryegrass ears as food and the oviposition substrate.