A method for mass-rearing Liriomyza chinensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

We established a method for mass-rearing the stone leek leafminer, Liriomyza chinensis (Kato) (Diptera: Agromyzidae), one of the most destructive pests of Welsh onion, Allium fistulosum L. We examined three methods that allow L. chinensis to produce eggs year-round. By recording the number of emerged adults for 4 years, we determined the optimal mass-rearing method as follows. Allium fistulosum plants used for oviposition are grown in pots and maintained in a growth chamber with temperature and photoperiod set to 22 ℃ and 14 L:10 D, respectively. Allium fistulosum plants are exchanged for a new set of plants three times in a 7-day period. On the first day, 300 adults are placed in the rearing cage. On the fifth day, another 100 emerged adults are placed in the rearing cage. Using this rearing method, it becomes possible to obtain more than 1,000 L. chinensis eggs in a day. Our goal is to select and breed a highly resistant line of A. fistulosum using a novel method for evaluating egg killing defenses via artificial inoculation of plants with L. chinensis eggs. Here we present our mass-rearing method to obtain large quantities of L. chinensis eggs.