Utilizing the assassin bug, Pristhesancus plagipennis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), as a biological control agent within an integrated pest management programme for Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Creontiades spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae) in cotton

Abstract

Helicoverpa spp. and mirids, Creontiades spp., have been difficult to control biologically in cotton due to their unpredictable temporal abundance combined with a cropping environment often made hostile by frequent usage of broad spectrum insecticides. To address this problem, a range of new generation insecticides registered for use in cotton were tested for compatibility with the assassin bug, Pristhesancus plagipennis (Walker), a potential biological control agent for Helicoverpa spp. and Creontiades spp. Indoxacarb, pyriproxifen, buprofezin, spinosad and fipronil were found to be of low to moderate toxicity on P. plagipennis whilst emamectin benzoate, abamectin, diafenthiuron, imidacloprid and omethaote were moderate to highly toxic. Inundative releases of P. plagipennis integrated with insecticides identified as being of low toxicity were then tested and compared with treatments of P. plagipennis and the compatible insecticides used alone, conventionally sprayed usage practice and an untreated control during two field experiments in cotton. The biological control provided by P. plagipennis nymphs when combined with compatible insecticides provided significant (P < 0.001) reductions in Helicoverpa and Creontiades spp. on cotton and provided equivalent yields to conventionally sprayed cotton with half of the synthetic insecticide input. Despite this, the utilization of P. plagipennis in cotton as part of an integrated pest management programme remains unlikely due to high inundative release costs relative to other control technologies such as insecticides and transgenic (Bt) cotton varieties.

Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae Excluding Triatominae)

“…The latter paper also supplied a checklist of Neotropical Harpactorinae genera. Members of the Harpactorini are commonly associated with plant crops, and some have been studied as biological control agents of crop pests (Grundy 2007 ;Grundy and Maelzer 2003 ). Several observations show that certain Harpactorini may be associated with particular plants (summarized in Bérenger and PluotSigwalt 1997 ).…”

Stage preference and functional response of Rhynocoris longifrons (Stål) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) on three hemipteran cotton pests

“…Reduviid predators are considered as potential biocontrol agents against many insect pests (Sahayaraj 2007;Grundy and Maelzer 2000;Grundy 2007) and have been suggested to integrate in Bio-intensive Integrated Pest Management (BIPM). Rhynocoris longifrons (Stal) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) is a voracious harpactorine reduviid predator mainly distributed in India.…”

“…Although some studies have investigated the functional response of R. longifrons against Odontotermes obesus Rambur (Kumar and Ambrose 1996), Clavigralla gibbosa Spinola , Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Ravichandran et al 2003), none of them has addressed the effect of hemipteran cotton pests on the functional response of the predator. Published accounts of reduviid functional response to cotton insect pests have thus far excluded the evaluations of the predator's potential to control the hemipteran prey (Grundy and Maelzer 2000;Grundy 2007). Functional response is an appropriate way to characterize the interaction of R. longifrons a number of three different hemipteran prey species and stages in a highly simplified environment.…”

Melt With This Kiss: Paralyzing and Liquefying Venom of The Assassin Bug Pristhesancus plagipennis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

“…Despite the natural abundance of assassin bugs and their importance as predators of invertebrates in agricultural and other ecosystems (31)(32)(33), the detailed composition of assassin bug venom remains unknown. Here, we elucidate the protein composition of venom from the harpactorine assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis using a combined transcriptomic/proteomic approach.…”