Biology of Mylabris Impressa Stillata (Baudi, 1878) in A Laboratory Colony (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Background: in order to study the biology of mylabris impressa stillata, which little is known about, a laboratory colonywas established.methods: in this descriptive study, the laboratory colony was collected from toyserkan county in hamedan province, iran.to feed the larval instars, a parallel colony of the grasshopper, schistocerca gregaria was set-up. meloid females lived forseveral months and laid egg masses with the intervals of about 2 weeks. the first instar larvae, named triungulin, were heavily sclerotized, campodiform, prognathous, and highly mobile. they were fed with fresh eggs of schistocerca gregaria andthe pollen paste. this stage was followed by five fg instars which are weakly sclerotized and hypognathous. after a weekof being fed, fg5 started digging the soil and subsequently was changed to a coarctate larva which characterized by diapause.results: we succeeded to break such a diapause in laboratory by chilling at 5º c for four months. thereafter, the larvaemoulted to the next step which is called the second grub larvae. sg did not feed and was moulted to pupa in the same moistsoil. new adults generally rested for three or four days following emergence, their feeding began at the adult age of a weekand sexual behaviour normally appeared at a mean age of about 10 days. the complete life cycle of mylabris impressa tookabout nine months.conclusion: laboratory rearing of blister beetles remains the best tool for ecological and chemical research as well as nuptialgift studies, but very labour intensive and time consuming with low yield.