The Great Lakes Entomologist (2015) 48, 9-33

Melody A. Keena, Hannah Nadel and Juli Gould (2015)
Survival and phenology of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) reared on a newly developed artificial diet free of host material
The Great Lakes Entomologist 48 (1-2), 9-33
Abstract: The final phase in the development of an artificial diet that contains no ash host material and the phenology of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Bupresidae) on that diet are documented. A diet containing powdered ash phloem exists, but host material introduces potential variability and contamination, and the cost and effort needed to collect and process it can be high. The post-embryonic development of A. planipennis was evaluated on four artificial diets lacking host material, and effects of variations in diet layer thickness and moisture content were also investigated. The best diet and rearing method resulted in 67.8% survival to pupation and 51% to adult. Larval size and development rate were comparable to published accounts for emerald ash borer larvae developing on susceptible host plants. Important advances include reduction of antimicrobial components to the lowest functional level; change of protein sources from wheat germ, brewer's yeast, and casein to soy flour and casein; reduction of diet moisture content to 50%; and adding a fresh layer of diet to spent diet half-way through larval development. The artificial diet represents a step toward the development of a standardized mass-production system for A. planipennis.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Melody A. Keena, Juli R. Gould

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
rearing/culturing/mass production

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Agrilus planipennis		U.S.A. (NE)