Feeding potential of lady bird beetle, Brumus suturalis fabricius (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) on cotton mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) in laboratory and field

Khuhro, S.N. . Entomology Section; Lohar, M.K. . Dept. of Entomology; Abro, G.H. . Dept. of Entomology; Talpur, M.A. . Dept. of Plant Protection; Khuhro, R.

Feeding potential of lady bird beetle, Brumus suturalis fabricius (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) on cotton mealy bug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) in laboratory and field

2012

Khuhro, S.N. (Central Cotton Research Inst., Sakrand (Pakistan). Entomology Section) | Lohar, M.K. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Entomology) | Abro, G.H. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Entomology) | Talpur, M.A. (Sindh Agriculture Univ., Tandojam (Pakistan). Dept. of Plant Protection) | Khuhro, R.

An experiment was conducted to determine the feeding potential of lady bird beetle, Brumus suturalis (Fab.) on cotton Mealy bug, Phenacoccus solenopsis in the laboratory and field conditions in Department of Entomology, Sindh Agricultural University, Tandojam, Pakistan during July-August, 2007. The laboratory results revealed that B. suturalis was voracious feeder of Mealy bugs. The fourth instar devoured maximum mean number of Mealy bugs (55.11 plus minus 1.38) /day/larva followed by third instar (32.51 plus minus 1.09), second instar (32.5 plus minus 0.08) and first instar (25.1 plus minus 1.41) Mealy bug and the adults female devoured more number of Mealy bug (131.51 plus minus 2.10) than male (129.57 plus minus 314) per day under laboratory conditions (26 plus minus 2 degree C). The field results showed that, fourth instar devoured more mean number of Mealy bugs/day/larva of (34.6 plus minus 1.41), followed by third instar (25.0 plus minus 0.63), second instar (23.7plus minus 0.47) and first instar (19.0 plus minus 0.16) Mealy bug/larva/day) and the adults female devoured more mean number (72.03 plus minus 6.16) than male (69.9 plus minus 6.31) per day. The lower consumption rate in the field may be attributed to the additional time required by the predators in searching of prey.

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