小厲椿象(Eocanthecona parva(Distant, 1902))屬半翅目、椿象科(Hemiptera: Pentatomidae),是臺灣常見的肉食性椿象之一。本研究在野外採集小厲椿象懷卵雌成蟲,攜回室內養蟲箱飼養,數日後雌成蟲產下一個卵塊(共91顆卵),待其孵化將若蟲飼養至成蟲羽化,以觀察卵與若蟲的發育及形態特徵。卵至成蟲羽化平均約需36天,卵期8天,若蟲期則約28天。各齡若蟲形態差異如下:一齡的頭、胸皆黑,頭下傾;二齡的前胸側緣白色;三齡的胸、腹側緣皆白色;四齡胸、腹側緣亦為白色,中胸翅芽往後延長至後胸後緣,後胸翅芽則尚未發育;五齡僅腹部側緣白色,前胸紅色,中胸翅芽往後延長至腹部第三節,後胸翅芽也明顯發育。孵化的若蟲83隻,最終有46隻羽化為成蟲,其中4隻脫皮不完全,羽化失敗,成功羽化的有42隻,其中雌蟲19隻,雄蟲23隻,雌蟲平均體長比雄蟲大,羽化時間比雄蟲晚。小厲椿象若蟲對餵食的數種作物或觀賞樹木之害蟲接受程度很高,未來可評估其應用於相關害蟲防治之潛力。
Eocanthecona parva (Distant, 1902) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a common species of predatory stink bug in Taiwan. This study collected a fertilized female of E. parva in the field, which laid an egg mass (91 eggs) afterwards. After the eggs hatched, the nymphs were reared until they grew into adults. In the meantime we observed and recorded the development and morphological features of eggs and nymphs as well as what the nymphs fed on. It took a total of 36 days approximately for the eggs to hatch and develop into adults. The eggs hatched approximately 8 days after being laid, while the nymphal stage lasted for 28 days. The nymphs of various instars can be distinguished based on the following morphological features: (1) the first instar: the head bended downward, and the thorax was black; (2) the second instar: the thorax was black, and the lateral margins of the pronotum were white; (3) the third instar: the thorax was black, and the lateral margins of the thorax and abdomen were white; (4) the fourth instar: the thorax was black, the lateral margins of the thorax and abdomen were white, and the wing-pads of the mesonotum developed to reach the posterior margin of the metanotum, while the wing-pads of the metanotum were undeveloped; (5) the fifth instar: the pronotum was red, the lateral margins of the abdomen were white, the wing-pads of the mesonotum developed to reach the third abdominal segment, and the wing-pads of the metanotum also developed. There were 83 hatchlings and 46 of them grew into adults. Except four adults that molted incompletely, there were 42 (19 females and 23 males) which eclosed successfully. The average body length of the females was greater than that of the males, and it took the former longer to develop into the adulthood than did the latter. The nymphs of E. parva fed on a number of crop pests of Lepidoptera provided. Its worth testing the potential of applying E. parva in the control of these pests in future studies.