Storage Potential of the Predatory Ladybird in Relation to Temperature, Humidity, and Factitious Food.

The ability of the females of the predatory ladybird to survive and to retain reproductive potential in the absence of natural food (aphids) was estimated under various hydrothermal (temperatures of 7, 12, 17, 22, and 27 °C; air humidities of 50% and 80-90%) and trophic (starved vs. fed on the frozen eggs of the grain moth ) conditions. The post-storage reproductive potential was estimated using the mean number of eggs laid over 20 days.