Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2013) 146, 224-231

Md. Habibullah Bahar, John Stanley, Peter Gregg and Alice Del Socorro (2013)
Predation of cotton bollworm by green lacewings in the presence of cotton aphid as alternative prey on transgenic Bt and conventional cotton
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 146 (2), 224-231
Abstract: Experiments were conducted in small arenas and on whole plants to explore the effect of cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), as alternative prey on the predation of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae by green lacewing larvae, Mallada signatus Schneider (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Transgenic Bt (Bollgard II^®) and conventional cotton plants were included to explore potential differences in the predator's performance on these cotton types. In small arenas, the presence of 20 aphids reduced predation on H. armigera larvae by 22% (from 5.5 to 3.3 of 10) by a single lacewing larva over a 24-h period. The presence of H. armigera reduced predation on aphids by ca. 29% (from 16.8 to 11.0 of 20) over 24 h. On whole plants, the presence of alternative prey had no effect on the number of H. armigera larvae or aphids remaining after 3 days. The presence of H. armigera larvae alone, without the predator, caused a 24% reduction in the numbers of aphids on conventional, but not on Bt cotton plants. The combination of Bt cotton and lacewing larvae caused a 96.6% removal of early-stage H. armigera larvae, a statistically significant increase over the addition of the proportions (91.6%) removed by each factor measured separately, providing evidence of synergism. These studies suggest that the presence of aphids as alternative prey would not necessarily disrupt the predation by green lacewing on larvae of H. armigera, especially on Bt cotton.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Md. Habibullah Bahar, Peter C. Gregg, Alice P. Del Socorro

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Helicoverpa armigera	Cotton (Gossypium)
	Aphis gossypii	Cotton (Gossypium)
Mallada signata (predator)	Helicoverpa armigera	Cotton (Gossypium)
Mallada signata (predator)	Aphis gossypii	Cotton (Gossypium)
Bacillus thuringiensis genes in crops (entomopathogen)	Helicoverpa armigera	Cotton (Gossypium)