International Journal of Horticulture, 2016, Vol.6, No.4, 1-6
1
Research Report Open Access
Bio-ecology of Coccinellid Beetle,
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
Mulsant on
Grapevine Mealy Bug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
(Green) under Laboratory
Condition
P.M. Prasanna
1
, R.A. Balikai
2
1. Department of Agricultural Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka, India
2. Dean (Agri.), College of Agriculture, Hanumanamatti-581 115, U.A.S., Dharwad, India
Corresponding email
International Journal of Horticulture 2016, Vol.6, No.4 doi
Received: 10 Jan., 2016
Accepted: 28 Feb., 2016
Published: 06 Apr., 2016
Copyright
© 2016 This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Prasanna P.M., and Balikai R.A., 2016, Bio-ecology of coccinellid beetle,
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
Mulsant on grapevine mealy bug,
Maconellicoccus
hirsutus
(Green) under laboratory condition, International Journal of Horticulture, 6(4): 1-6 (doi
Abstract
The present study was conducted at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences,
Dharwad, Karnataka, India under laboratory conditions. The mealy bug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
(Green) is major and hard to kill
pest of grape vines because of its protected waxy filaments, which are almost impossible to be penetrated with insecticidal sprays.
The predatory coccinellid beetle,
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
Mulsant has been proved as a voracious feeder and best biological
control agent on different mealy bugs. In this study an effort was made to know the developmental period taken by the predator to
complete its life cycle on feeding second and third instars mealy bugs. The predatory grub took 3.83 ±0.53, 4.83 ±0.65, 6.03 ±0.85
and 5.67 ±0.66 days and 3.53 ±0.51, 4.53 ±0.51, 5.57 ±0.50 and 5.50 ±0.51 days to complete its first, second, third and fourth
instar, respectively when supplemented with second and third instar mealy bugs with an average of 3.68 ±0.36, 4.68 ±0.33, 5.80 ±
0.57 and 5.58 ±0.46 days. The results clearly indicated that the duration taken by the predator feeding on second instars mealy bugs
was little more than feeding on third instars mealy bugs. The total developmental period of grubs was 20.37 ±1.29 and 19.13 ±0.86
with an average of 19.75 ±0.77 when supplemented with second and third instar mealy bug preys, respectively. The predator grubs
recorded pre-pupal duration of 1.73 ±0.52 and 1.67 ±0.55, with a mean of 1.70 ±0.39 days feeding on second and third instar
mealy bug. The pupal period recorded was 8.70 ±0.88 and 8.53 ±1.22 days, respectively when fed on second and third instar mealy
bugs with an average of 8.62 ±0.82 days. The duration of male beetle when reared on second and third instar mealy bugs was 55.80
±3.19 and 60.59 ±3.73 days, respectively with an average of 58.18 ±2.13 days. Similarly, the longevity of female beetle was 63.83
±1.91 and 61.28 ±2.21 with a mean of 62.48 ±1.42 days.
Keywords
Instar; Developmental period; Pre-pupal period; Pupal period, Longevity
Introduction
Grape (
Vitis vinifera
L.) is one of the most important commercial fruit crops of sub-tropical, tropical and
temperate regions of the world. The prevailing sub-tropical and tropical climatic condition of India is well suited
for higher sucrose level and berry yield. In India, the major grape growing states include Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. As per the reports of Butani (1979) over 85
species of insect pests are known to occur on grapes in India. Balikai and Kotikal (2003) recorded 26 pests
infesting grapevines in northern Karnataka. Among these, two insects
viz.
, flea beetle,
Sceledonta strigicollis
Mots.
and mealy bug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
(Green) were recorded as major pests on this crop. Lower (1968)
described the mealy bug as “hard to kill pest of fruit trees” because mealy bugs are protected by waxy filaments,
and almost impossible to be penetrated by insecticidal sprays. In recent years,
M. hirsutus
has become very severe
in grape vine yards.
The biological control is one of the effective means of achieving insect control (Pedigo, 2004). The researches so
far done regarding bio-control have proved that most of the major pests of important agricultural and horticultural
crops would be suppressed by bio-agents. About 60 percent of the pests are controlled naturally by entomophages
occurring in nature, provided, they are not destroyed by the use of chemicals. The coccinellid beetles are
