Diet Effect on Psacothea hilaris hilaris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) performance under laboratory conditions

As both climate and food can affect insect development, in order to deep the knowledge on Psacothea hilaris hilaris (Pascoe) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) biology, four treatments were tested to evaluate the effects of diet composition and temperature on some biological traits of this longicorn beetle. P. h. hilaris survival, pre-imaginal developmental traits, adult size, sex-ratio, longevity, fecundity and duration of the oviposition period have been examined in order to evaluate the direct influence of the diet on larvae as well as the effect of pre-imaginal feeding on adult performances. Treatments investigating the maximum rearing temperature and the diet with the lowest content of mulberry showed the lowest rate of larval survival and adult longevity. Despite no variation in adult body size was estimated in relation to preimaginal rearing condition, significant differences were observed in adult performances: fecundity and oviposition behaviour were significantly higher at 25°C compared to 30°C, but no differences were recorded on the pre-oviposition period.