Possibility of Sycanus dichotomus as biological control agent for bagworm, Metisa plana of oil palm

The laboratory and field studies were conducted to quantify preying efficiency of S. dichotomus (Sd) on Metisa plana, develop and optimize mass rearing method for Sd and evaluate effectiveness of Sd in the field, Results showed that both sexes of laboratory cultured Sd caused significantly higher (P < 0,05) percent mortality when given 5 and 10 Mp larvae than 15 and 20 Mp larvae, mortality was lower when larvae were exposed to wild than laboratory cultured Sd, and larger Sd nymph of inflicted highest mortality on Mp larvae. There was a significant (P < 0.05) difference in predator sex ratio (females to male) or prey species (T. molitor and C. cephalonica) in relation to total number of eggs (per cohort) laid; more egg lay with high sex ratio. There was a significant interaction between sd life stages and prey species (P < 0.05) which influence the number of prey consumed. Results suggest that the Sd kill more preys as they grew up and preferred 1. molitor than the C. cephalonica. The Sd adult which fed T. molitor has the longest lifespan (159.4 ± 6.7 days) compared to cohort fed C.cephalonica (124.9 ± 2.9 days). There was a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the total number of bagworms larvae alive (survived) both in cage and open field studies between sampling dates. As conclusion, there is a potential of Sd to be integrated with IPM of bagworm in oil palm plantation as it can easily reared and seemed to be able to putting pressure on field population of bagworm, however, extensive field study need to be conducted as their performance could be influenced by multiple factors like its flying behavior and alternate preys, competitors, other predators that predate on them, climates, geographical location as well as field managements.