Egg-laying preference of green lacewing, Chrysoperla sp. on different types of coloured paper

Abstract

The green lacewing is recognized as an effective biological control agent as it preys on a wide variety of insect-pests. A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the effect of different types of paper and colours on egg-laying behaviour of the green lacewing. Egg receiving sheets were pasted with different colours (white, light green, black, peach, yellow, pink, magenta and orange) and paper type (glossy vs. matte). The findings revealed that both the texture of the paper and its colour played significant role in influencing its oviposition behaviour. Glossy papers consistently attracted more eggs compared to matte ones. The highest number of eggs (376.52 eggs) was recorded on glossy black paper, regarded as the best combination, followed by matte black, glossy white, glossy light pink, matte white and glossy light green. On the other hand, colours like matte yellow, glossy orange and glossy peach were least preferred. This information can be useful to improve mass-rearing efficiency and aid in designing more effective oviposition substrates for biological pest control programs.