Abstract

In India, agriculture is currently suffering an annual loss of about rupees 8.5 million due to insect pests. As chemical control is having many side effects and after effect, biological control is the best alternative to protect the crop from pest insects. Among the predator's assassin bug is one of the promising biocontrol agents. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the A. pedestris, prey and stage preference on two lepidopteran cotton pests, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner and Spodoptera litura Fabricius. The assessment of a predator's ability to capture and consume the relevant stadia of the targeted insect pest enables one to effectively utilize a natural enemy for biocontrol in the agricultural ecosystem. Steady increase in prey consumption was recorded by means of the progression of the developmental stages of the predator. The adult female consumed more than the adult male. The consumption of predators was observed to be decreased with the advancement of prey stages. The First and 2nd instar A.pedestris were limited in their ability to capture large-sized prey in both the prey species. The predator's success in pest control depends on its willingness to eat the target prey. Cotton leaf worm S. litura was the preferred prey among the two prey species.