Relation between demography and food consumption in Henosepilachna vigintioctomaculata Motch.

The purpose of the study is to analyze data on the demographic structure of the potato ladybug population and the rate of consumption of the food substrate using survival tables. The study used 100 eggs of the Henosepilachna vigintioctomaculata potato ladybug. The time of development of each stage, the immature period, the total period before oviposition, the days of oviposition, and the fecundity of females, as well as the level of consumption of the food substrate, were taken into account. The data obtained were described using survival tables. It was found that the adult stage and life expectancy were significantly longer in males than in females and amounted to 160.12 ± 2.14 - 220.81 ± 2.14 and 199.09 ± 1.21 - 265.18 ± 1.21 respectively. There were no significant differences in the time of development of other stages between the sexes. The maximum daily fecundity of one individual was 101 eggs. The maximum lifetime fecundity per female was 3185 eggs, while the average female fecundity (F) was 1439 eggs. The average lifespan of females was significantly shorter than that of males, resulting in lower leaf consumption in adult females. So for adult females and males, leaf consumption was 160.15 and 220.52 cm2, respectively. The transformation coefficient Qp was 0.129, which means that the potato ladybug required 0.129 cm2 of S. tuberosum leaves to produce one egg. The final consumption ratio was 0.1293 cm2/day. It was found that the range of variability in population growth varies from 1.1304 ± 0.0057 - 1.1483 ± 0.0036, which indicates a low degree of variability in the growth of the potato ladybug population.