Studies on integrating chemical control of the cotton fleahopper and biological control of Heliothis spp. on cotton

A series of laboratory and field experiments was conducted to study the feasibility of integrating chemical control of the cotton fleahopper, Psallus seriatus (Reuter), with biological control of the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), and/or the tobacco budworm H. virescens (F.) in cotton fields. Information was obtained on the seasonal abundance of arthropod predators in dryland cotton fields, efficiency of certain predators in consuming bollworm and tobacco budworm eggs and larvae, relative toxicities of certain insecticides to several predators, and the effects of foliar applications of insecticides on cotton fleahoppers, arthropod predators and developing bollworm and tobacco budworm populations. Results from, the seasonal abundance study indicated that predator populations, in general, reached a peak abundance during the last week in June and then slowly declined throughout the remainder of the growing season. Several predators were still present in cotton fields during the second week of August. In laboratory experiments, several arthropod predators consumed relatively large numbers of bollworm and tobacco budworm eggs and first instar larvae. When confined in small containers with more bollworm eggs than they could eat, adult H. convergens females consumed an average of 129.9 eggs per predator per day. Under similar conditions they consumed an average of 136.5 first instar bollworm larvae per individual per day. Also, adult females of Oxyopes salticus and a malachiid, Collops balteatus LeConte, consumed 93.6 and 124.0 bollworm larvae per individual per day, respectively. In other laboratory tests, larval green lacewings, Chrysopa spp., adult big eyed bugs, Geocoris punctipes Say, and adult damsel bugs, Nabis alternatus (Parshley), were effective in locating and eating bollworm and tobacco budworm eggs and larvae on cotton terminals. ..