Life Cycle and Fertility Life Table of Zelus vespiformis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Zelus vespiformis Hart (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) is a native predator which has been recorded frequently predating on some insects pest of coffee plantations in Colombia. In order to know its biological parameters, its life cycle and fertility life table were evaluated under laboratory conditions at Cenicafe, using Galleria mellonella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). To obtain the duration and survival of immature stages, 716 eggs were followed and 23 adults pairs (♂: ♀) were established to construct the life table. The mean duration from egg to adult was 112.65±0.76 days; the egg incubation period was 23.22±0.21 days; and nymphs had 11.75% survival to the adult stage. The longevity of adults was 25.86±2.94 and 30.39±2.26 days for females and males respectively. The mean number of eggs per female was 105.55±10.75. The parameters of the fertility life table were net reproductive rate R0=5.19 (2.54–10.28); generation time T=106.75 (101.7–114.0) days, intrinsic growth rate rm=0.015 (0.009–0.022), and finite growth rate λ=1.015 (1.009–1.023). This information forms a biological basis for initiating studies that pretend to determine the potential of this insect as predator.