Ovipositional response of Antilochus coquebertii and Dysdercus koenigii in different media under controled conditions.

Cotton stainer, red cotton bug (Dysdercus spp., Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) is one of the economical pest of cotton crop. Pyrrhocorid bugs have multiple hosts and are highly mobile, rendering their insecticidal control less effective. Among pyrrhocorid bugs, Antilochus coquebertii (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) is considered highly effective predator of cotton stainers. However, predator and prey proportion and their ecological behavior are very important and there is no previous study regarding oviposition behaviour both of predator and prey. In this study, effects of different media on the fecundity both of predator (A. coquebertii) and prey (D. koenigii) were explored for the first time under controlled conditions. Eight different media consisted of Dry Soil + Dry Leaves (DSDL), Dry Soil + Wet Leaves (DSWL), Wet Soil + Dry Leaves (WSDL), Wet Soil + Wet Leaves (WSWL), Dry Soil (DS), Wet Soil (WS), Dry Soil + Cylindrical Perforated Plastic Bottle (DS-CPPB), and Wet Soil + Cylindrical Perforated Plastic Bottle (WS-CPPB). The results revealed significantly higher number of egg batches both of predator and prey on WSWL followed by WSDL. It is, therefore concluded that both the predator and prey preferred WSWL and WSDL media for egg deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]