Abstract
The bean bugs, Riptortus clavatus were reared in order to determine which essential vitamins and amino acids should be added to artificial diets in which one of nine B vitamins or nineteen amino acids was omitted from the diets. No adults emerged when riboflavin was omitted, and the growth of nymphs was delayed when any one of the following vitamins, thiamine, pyridoxine, and folic acid, was omitted from the diets. Only a few adults emerged when fed on a diet where folic acid was omitted. As for the amino acids, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine, were considered to be essential. The nymphs were unable to mature and they died when fed on diets in which any one of these essential amino acids was omitted. The growth of nymphs was slightly delayed when any one of the following amino acids, lysine, methionine, and serine was omitted from the diets. Although no significant effects were observed on the growth of nymphs fed on diets in which one of the other vitamins or amino acids mentioned above was omitted, further investigations are required to confirm the present results by using holidic diets.The body weight of newly emerged adults fed on a diet lacking in one of the vitamins or amino acids was not significantly different from the weight of those fed on the control diet containing all the vitamins and amino acids.
