Abstract
Anthocoris minki Dohrn (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is a general predator and an important biological control agent. This study determined the effect of six different maternal ages (i.e., 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days) of A. minki on its growth and population parameters. Age-stage, two-sex life table revealed that maternal age significantly altered egg and nymphal durations, whereas adult longevity remained unaffected. Likewise, pre-adult duration, adult longevity and total longevity of females were significantly affected by maternal age. Contrastingly, maternal age had non-significant impact on adult duration and total longevity of males. The fecundity of females varied among maternal ages with the highest mean fecundity (199.67 eggs) recorded for 30 days maternal age. The lowest female fecundity (120.63 eggs) was noted for 50 days maternal age. Ratio of female and male individuals in cohort remained unaffected by maternal age. Maternal age had non-significant impact on female (Nf/N) and male proportions in cohort (Nm/N). Intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (lambda), net reproductive rate (R-0) remained similar among tested maternal ages. Paired bootstrap analyses indicted that mean generation time and gross reproductive rate differed among maternal ages, while r, lambda, R-0 and DT values remained unaffected. Overall, 30 days maternal age proved better based on fecundity, survival rate and female proportion in cohort. Therefore, harvesting eggs from 30 days maternal age would have an economic advantage in the mass rearing of A. minki. The older females than 30 days should not be used for mass rearing due to low fertility.