Fertility and Life Expectancy of a Predatory Stinkbug to Sublethal Doses of a Pyrethroid Jose ´ C. Zanuncio • Pedro Jusselino-Filho • Rafael C. Ribeiro • Ancide ´riton A. Castro • Teresinha V. Zanuncio • Jose ´ E. Serra ˜o Received: 12 May 2012 / Accepted: 1 November 2012 / Published online: 7 November 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012 Abstract Podisus distinctus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is an important predator used in biological control of eucalypt defoliating caterpillars, exposed the insecticides. Lower doses of permethrin not affect the values of gener- ation time (T), time necessary to double the population in number of individuals (DT) and intrinsic rate of population increase (r m ). Moreover, females of P. distinctus derived from nymphs treated with lower doses of permethrin were more fertile, triggering the effect hormetic in net repro- ductive rates (Ro). Results showed that low permethrin doses can be used alongside the predatory stinkbug in Integrated Pest Management programs. Keywords Asopinae  Life table  Permethrin  Predatory stinkbug Chemical pesticides are the primary method of pest control in agricultural systems. However, insecticides may cause undesirable effects on non-target species and on the envi- ronment (Morse 1998; Corso et al. 1999). These negative effects may be particularly damaging when they impact species that provide biological control of pests. Biological control agents are natural enemies of pests that can include parasitic and predatory species, often of insects and mite. Predatory stinkbugs are one group that is utilized in biological control of Eucalyptus defoliating caterpillars as Thyrinteina arnobia (Stoll), Glena unipen- naria (Guene ´e) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and Sarsina violascens (Herrich-Scha ¨ffer) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Species that may be used against pest insects include Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas), Podisus distinctus (Stal), Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret), Supputius cincticeps (Stal), and Alcaeorrhynchus grandis (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pent- atomidae) (Zanuncio et al. 2000, 2004, 2006; Matos Neto et al. 2004; Ribeiro et al. 2010). These species have high reproductive capability and prey in pest insects including immature stages of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera (Biever and Chauvin 1992; Hough-Goldstein and Mcherson 1996; Lemos et al. 2001, 2003; Ferreira et al. 2008). Studies with interactions between the biological control and chemical insecticides and physiological responses or biological selectivity to natural enemies are important for pest management programs (Corso et al. 1999; Zanuncio et al. 2003; Pereira et al. 2009; Vianna et al. 2009; Castro et al. 2012). Lethal effects of pesticides can reduce or decimate populations of biological control agents; how- ever, sublethal doses of insecticides can also alter the J. C. Zanuncio  A. A. Castro  T. V. Zanuncio Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Vic ¸osa, Vic ¸osa, Minas Gerais 35670-000, Brazil e-mail: zanuncio@ufv.br A. A. Castro e-mail: anciagro@gmail.com T. V. Zanuncio e-mail: tvzanuncio@ufv.br P. Jusselino-Filho Centro de educac ¸a ˜o, Universidade Federal da Paraı ´ba, Joa ˜o Pessoa, Paraı ´ba 58051-900, Brazil e-mail: pejus@ig.com.br R. C. Ribeiro (&) Departamento de Fitotecnia, Universidade Federal de Vic ¸osa, Vic ¸osa, Minas Gerais 35670-000, Brazil e-mail: rafael.c.ribeiro@ufv.br J. E. Serra ˜o Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Vic ¸osa, Vic ¸osa, Minas Gerais 36571-000, Brazil e-mail: jeserrao@ufv.br 123 Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2013) 90:39–45 DOI 10.1007/s00128-012-0883-5