Saengyot, S., & Burikam, I. 2012 Bionomics of the apefly, spalgis epius (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), predatory on the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), in Thailand. Songklanakarin Journal of Science and Technology 34(1):1-7

Notes: We investigated the life history, growth ratio and feeding potential of the hemipterophagous butterfly or the apefly, Spalgis epius (Westwood) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Miletinae), a promising augmentative biological control agent of the papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus Williams & Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), which is an invasive alien species detected in 2008 in Thailand. The investigation was carried out under laboratory conditions at 25-30°C and 40-60% RH using papaya mealybug reared on Thai pumpkin as its prey. The mean duration of the egg, larval and pupal stages were 3.54±0.50, 12.01±2.40, and 10.32±0.88 days, respectively, and the mean duration from egg to adult emergence was 25.87 ±3.78 days. The geometric growth ratio of successive larval instars using the head capsule width as a parameter was 1.65 and conformed to Dyar's Law. As for the predatory potential of S. epius, the total number of papaya mealybug consumed during the larval stage were 4,115.75±553.28 eggs, 281.25±45.08 nymphs and 77.50±16.52 female adults. The instar-specific prey consumption from the first to fifth larval instars in the order of eggs, nymphs and female adults were 170.00±26.32, 4.25±1.71 and 2.00±0.82; 654.00±67.97, 35.35±12.48 and 10.25±4.29; 1,376.75±130.95, 93.25±11.70 and 23.50±3.94; 1,426.50±252.93, 110.75±15.60 and 31.00±5.25; and 31.00±5.25, 37.75±3.59 and 10.75±2.22, respectively. These findings warrant further investigation into the amenability and suitability of the entomophagous apefly, S. epius, for as an integrated pest management strategy for the augmentative biological control of the papaya mealybug in Thailand.