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ABSTRACT: Reduviid species are recorded as indigenous natural enemies of tea mosquito bug {Helopeltis spp.), which is one of the major economically important pests of cashew. Rihirbus trochantericus laid eggs singly as well as in groups of up to 26 eggs in 3 to 7 clusters per female. The incubation period was 13.00 ± 0.69 days. The stadial durations of I, H, IE, IV and V nymphs were 12.39 ± 1.13, 7.00 ± 0.39, 7.56 ± 0.35, 9.28 ± 0.64 and 12.78 ± 1.27 days, respectively. Adult males and females survived for 107.13 ± 2.70 and 117.9 ± 3.83 days, respectively and their sex ratio was 1: 0.7. The sequential acts of predation as well as mating conform to those of Harpactorine reduviids. R. trochantericus exhibited Holling's type E functional response. The molecular characterization of R. trochantericus will be highly useful in confirming the identity of the species in any of its life stages.
KEYWORDS: R. trochantericus, biological parameters, functional response, barcode, cashew
INTRODUCTION
Several insect pests have been recorded on cashew (.Anacardium occidentale L.) in India (Sundararaju, 1993), prominent among which is the tea mosquito bug (TMB), Helopeltis spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae). Reduviidae constitute an important group of predatory insects that could be most successfully harnessed as effective biological control agents.
Naik and Sundararaju (1982) recorded Endochus inornatus Stal as a predator of H antonii Sign. Sundararaju (1984) also reported five species of Reduviidae: Sycanus collaris R, Sphedanolestes signatus Dist., Endochus inornatus Stal, Irantha armipes Stal and Occamus typicus Dist., as predators of H antonii on cashew in India. All these predators were capable of devouring 1 to 5 TMB nymphs or adults in a day. Attempts to mass-rear these reduviids under laboratory conditions revealed that their mass culture is amenable if nymphal mortality could be reduced to a minimum. S. signatus is an alate, entomophagous reduviid found in the scrub jungles and agroecosystems of southern India (Distant, 1904). It is also found as a potential biocontrol agent on the cashew pest, H. antonii (Sundararaju, 1984; Vennison and Ambrose, 1990). Reduviids should be conserved and augmented to be effectively utilized in Integrated Pest Manage ment (IPM) programs (Ambrose, 1999; Ambrose, 2000; Ambrose, 2003; Ambrose et al, 2000; Ambrose et al, 2006).
R. trochantericus Stal...