Biology of dirphia araucariae, in laboratory

Abstract

The biology of Dirphia araucariae Jones, 1908 (Lepidoptera, Attacidae), an important pest of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertoloni) O. Kuntze, was studied under controlled conditions. The mean incubation period was 26.17 days. The larvae presented 6 instars and the mean duration of the larval stage, for males and females, was 60.71 and 65.38 days, respectively. The mean duration of the pre-pupal and pupal stages was 6.43 and 52.57 days for males and 6 and 51.13 days for females. The period from eggs to the emergence of the adults, for males and females, lasted 145.70 and 148.50 days, respectively, and the percentage of mortality at the end of this cycle was 91.67%.