An all-beef artificial diet was developed for rearing Geocoris punctipes (Say). Thus far, five complete continuous generations have developed on this diet at a cost of ca. $0 63 per 1000 adults. Eggs for a sixth generation have been laid. There was an increase in biomass from <1.0 mg for first instars that started the culture to nearly 1,200 mg biomass in the fifth generation. Numbers of G. punctipes have increased in each succeeding generation, an indication that the present diet and techniques may lend themselves to mass culture of this important predator.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Allen Carson Cohen (1985) studied this question.