Rearing the house fly predator Carcinops pumilio (Erichson) (Coleoptera: Histeridae) using eggs and larvae of Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) as prey

In the study of arthropods in poultry manure, the key predator of house fly larvae encountered was the beetle Carcinops pumilio Erichson (Coleoptera: Histeridae) (Achiano and Giliomee, 2003, 2005a, b, 2006a, b). It is also considered as a major predator in the suppression of synanthropic flies in poultry houses in the USA (Legner, 1971; Geden and Stoffolano, 1987) and in Britain (Bills 1973, Conway, 1973). In order to study the biology of this important species in the laboratory, finding a suitable rearing method became essential. Such a rearing method could also lead to the development of mass rearing techniques which would be a prerequisite for utilizing C. pumilio as a biological control agent against house flies. An earlier attempt to breed C. pumilio using larvae of the house fly Musca domestica L. as source of prey proved to be unsuccessful, a result also obtained by other workers such as Smith (1975) and Geden (1984). Geden (1984) observed that the glut of older larvae, which escaped predation, disrupted histerid pupation and oviposition sites. Furthermore, C. pumilio readily feeds only on the eggs and 1 instar larvae, with the result that very large numbers of house flies would have to be reared to provide it with these stages in mass rearing, which would make it economically unviable (Geden,