M. Rathe ¹, P. Ram ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, Haryana, IN

Abstract

Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a solitary nymphal endoparasitoid of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), an important pest of cotton in Haryana. The present study on the effect of cold storage on some biological characteristics of A. bambawalei was carried out by storing one-day-old mummies of P. solenopsis (i.e. parasitoid in pupal stage) for 1 to 8 weeks at four storage temperatures viz., 5, 10, 15 and 20°C at 75 per cent relative humidity. Emergence of the parasitoid adults from mummies occurred within first week during storage at 20°C, hence, this temperature was judged unsuitable for cold storage. The parasitoid A. bambawalei could be stored for one week at 5°C and for two weeks each at 10 and 15°C, without any significant effect on emergence, longevity, fecundity and per cent females emerging in F₁ progeny. At the above mentioned temperatures and durations these biological parameters of the parasitoid were comparable with the emergence (100%), longevity (19.60 and 33.20 days for males and females, respectively), fecundity (24.60 mealybugs parasitized per female in five days) and per cent females emerging in F1 progeny (63.12%) recorded in the control (27°C).

Keywords

Aenasius bambawalei, Biological Parameters, Cold Storage, Mummies, Phenacoccus solenopsis, Temperature, Storage Duration.

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G. Kavitha ¹, P. Ram ¹, R. K. Saini ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar 125004, Haryana, IN

Abstract

Three strip crops, namely, maize, sorghum and cowpea were evaluated for their role in the enhancement of arthropod predators and reduction in pest populations in cotton and were compared with a control (cotton alone). Populations of arthropod predators such as spiders, coccinellids, green lacewing and rove beetles as well as insect-pests such as leafhopper, whitefly and aphid were recorded on cotton. Boll infestation due to spotted bollworm and pink bollworm was determined in opened cotton bolls at harvest. Among different strip crops, maize supported the highest number of predators (16.06 per 10 plants) as compared to control (10.73). Cotton strip cropped with sorghum (16.74) and maize (14.68) recorded the higher number of predators per 10 plants over control (10.23). Leafhopper population was significantly low in all the treatments as compared to control. Pink bollworm incidence was significantly low in cotton stripcropped with maize (17.4%) as compared to control (27.23%). However, different treatments bad no significant effect on aphid, whitefly and spotted bollworm incidence.

Keywords

Arthropod Predators, Cotton, Insect-Pests, Strip Crops.

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