PREDATORY EFFICACY OF STORED GRAIN MITE (TYROPHAGUS PUTRESCENTIAE (SCHRANK) (ASTIGMATA: ACARIDAE) AGAINST COTTON INSECT PESTS UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

Common pest control approaches include the use of synthetic pesticides and the resistance of many insects to chemical insecticides, coupled with potential environmental health hazards gave birth to a search for biological control as substitutes to synthetic insecticides. There are many organisms in agro-ecosystems that may have a value, negative or positive, to crop production. Cotton crop is damaged by different insect pests like Phenacoccus solenopsis, Dysdercus koenigii, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, Amrasca biguttula, Bemisia tabaci, and Aphis gossypii. These pests deteriorate the quality and quantity of the crop ultimately reducing the yield. These pests have also conquered the resistance against different insecticides like bifenthrin, deltamethrin, lufenuron, and chlorpyrifos. There is a need to study different control methods which are environment friendly and safer for food like biological control. Stored grain mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Oder: Astigmata) is a cosmopolitan, polyphagous, and also omnivorous species belonging to the family Acaridae. It has an efficient predatory potential in the IPM program. In the present study, the predatory efficacy of Tyrophagus Putrescentiae (Schrank) against some of the sucking insect pests of cotton i.e., P. solenopsis, D. koenigii, and O. hyalinipennis and the effect of predator density and various time intervals under laboratory conditions was evaluated and determined. The experiment was designed under a complete randomized block design (CRD) according to factor factorial design. Maximum predation was observed in all stages of red cotton bug followed by the cotton mealy bug and dusky cotton bug. Similarly, a high predation rate was recorded in the adult stage of all insect pests followed by nymphal and egg stages. Mortality (%) increased with the passage of time and maximum mortality was observed after 48 hours in eggs and 72 hours in nymphal and adult stages of all insects in all treatments. It is concluded that T. putrescentiae is a good biological control agent sucking insect pests.