Reproductive Behavior of the Bug Molipteryx fuliginosa Uhler (Heteroptera, Coreidae) in the South of the Russian Far East

摘要

AbstractReproductive behavior ofMolipteryx fuliginosa(Uhler) was investigated in Primorskii Territory of Russia. From 4 to 18 repeated copulations of one female lasting from 2 to 48 hours were recorded in cages. The behavior of ovipositing females and the stages of oviposition are described for the first time. The number of eggs laid between copulations varied from 1 to 13, the number of oviposition acts, from 4 to 11, and the total female fecundity, from 21 to 38 eggs. Caged females laid eggs on plants and also on dead substrates unsuitable for nymphal feeding, such as cloth, dry branches, and a wooden pole. Copulation ofM. fuliginosawas also observed under natural conditions. The preferred mating places ofM. fuliginosain anthropogenically modified habitats and in small-leaved riparian forests were plants ofRubus idaeusL.,R. caesiusL., andRubussp. After mating, females migrated in search of places for oviposition. Single eggs were found on the following plants not known previously as hosts of this bug:Solanum lycopersicumL.,Carexsp.,Elytrigia repens(L.) Nevski, andTaraxacum officinaleWigg. The females seemed to lack selectivity in the choice of place for oviposition, which was not always associated with host plants, despite their abundance and availability.]]>