MATERNAL BEHAVIOR AND ALARM RESPONSE IN 
THE EGGPLANT LACE BUG, GARGAPHIA SOLANI 
HEIDEMANN (TINGIDAE: HETEROPTERA) 1 
By R. S. Kearns 2 and R. T. Yamamoto 
Entomology Department 
North Carolina State University 
Raleigh, NC 27650 
INTRODUCTION 
Maternal behavior in the eggplant lace bug, Gargaphia solani 
Heidemann (Tingidae: Heteroptera) was first reported by Fink 
(1915). He described the female’s guarding of the eggs and shepherd- 
ing of the nymphs from leaf to leaf. G. solani is found on the native 
horse nettle ( Solanum carolinense) and on the introduced eggplant 
(Solanum melongena). Overwintering adults appear in late spring, 
and females lay eggs in circular masses on the underside of leaves. 
Fink reported that the number of eggs is greater than 100, oviposi- 
tion lasts 4 to 5 days, and the incubation period is about 6 days. 
Maternal care persists through the development of the nymphs, and 
the life cycle is approximately 20 days. Females observed in this 
study usually laid less than 100 eggs over a period of 3 to 4 days 
(Kearns 1980). 
Maternal behavior has been reported for a number of heterop- 
terans (Melber and Schmidt 1977) and for two other species of the 
genus Gargaphia: Gargaphia tiliae (Weiss 1919, Torre-Bueno 1935, 
Sheeley and Yonke 1977) and Gargaphia irridescens (Torre-Bueno 
1942). These accounts give few details. The maternal behavior of G. 
solani has much in common with that exhibited by treehoppers 
(Membracidae: Homoptera) (Wood 1974, 1976a, 1976b, 1977 and 
Hinton 1977). The complex behavior patterns of membracids and of 
G. solani suggest that aggregations of these insects depend upon a 
•Paper number 6950 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural 
Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina. 
2 This work was completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of 
Master of Science in Entomology. 
Manuscript received by the editor August 30, 1981. 
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