花粉是成年Chrysoperlaexterna(Hagen)的食物来源,其幼虫是针对害虫的生物防治剂。然而,由于花粉可及性的差异以及花粉形态和化学的变异性,成虫在觅食花粉时可能面临挑战。在实验室里,我们调查了成年C.externa从Cajanuscajan的花中消耗花粉的能力,Canavaliaensiformis,cuttalariajuncea,大叶风骨,AvenaStrigosa,狼尾草,双色高粱,还有ZeaMays,我们探讨了成年人是否根据其数量和质量特征选择了这些花粉。Cajanuscajan和F.macrophilla花粉是唯一不被成年人食用的花。从花前芽中取出的花粉同时提供24和48小时。在这两个时期,成年人消耗更多的中等大小的蓝藻(具有第二大的外壁厚度)和大尺寸的Z.mays(具有最薄的外壁)花粉,尽管它们的粗蛋白明显少于豆科花粉,其大小与培养基(C.juncea,具有最厚的外表面)到大(C.ensiformis,其外壁厚度等于蓝藻的厚度)。总的来说,成年人消耗的禾本科花粉比豆科花粉多,但是孢粉学特征和蛋白质含量并不影响这种选择。我们的结果强调了C.juncea,P.glaucum,S.bicolor和Z.mays是成年C.externa的良好花粉来源,在选择昆虫植物时,应被视为有希望的候选人,这些植物将用于旨在保护这种草类的生物控制计划中。
Pollen is a food source for adult Chrysoperla externa (Hagen), whose larvae are biocontrol agents against pests. However, adults may face challenges in foraging for pollen due to differences in pollen accessibility and variability in pollen morphology and chemistry. In the laboratory, we investigated the ability of adult C. externa to consume pollen from flowers of Cajanus cajan, Canavalia ensiformis, Crotalaria juncea, Flemingia macrophylla, Avena strigosa, Pennisetum glaucum, Sorghum bicolor, and Zea mays, and we explored whether adults chose any of these pollens based on their quantitative and qualitative features. Cajanus cajan and F. macrophylla pollen were the only ones not consumed by adults when confined to flowers. Pollen removed from the preanthesis buds was offered simultaneously for 24 and 48 h. In both periods, adults consumed more of the medium-sized P. glaucum (with the second largest exine thickness) and large-sized Z. mays (with the thinnest exine) pollen, even though they had significantly less crude protein than Fabaceae pollen, whose sizes varied from medium (C. juncea, with the thickest exine) to large (C. ensiformis, whose exine thickness was equal to that of P. glaucum). Overall, adults consumed more Poaceae pollen than Fabaceae pollen, but the palynological features and the protein contents did not affect this choice. Our results highlighted that C. juncea, P. glaucum, S. bicolor and Z. mays are good pollen sources for adult C. externa and should be considered promising candidates in the selection of insectary plants to deploy in biocontrol programs aimed at the conservation of this lacewing.