First record of two spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus (Fab.) from Meerut (U.P.) North India
Abstract
Spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus female bug lays 25-30 rounded black eggs. Eggs hatch in 5-6 days. The 1st instar nymph lasts for 3.33 days (ranged 3-4 days), however the second instar nymphal period is completed in 3.67 days (ranged 3-4 days), while the 3rd instar takes 4 days (ranged 4 days). The 4th and final instars nymph lasts for 4.67 days (4-5 days), however adult period lasts 6.67 days (ranged 6-7 days). The P. bioculatus was found to complete its life cycle on an average in 22.33 days (ranged 20-24 days) in the laboratory. In a laboratory experiment on feeding potential of different stages of bug showed that a single bug consumed 22.0 grubs (ranged 20-22 grubs) during its life period. This bug is recorded as a limiting factor of Z. bicolorata.
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Introduction
Two spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus (Fab., 1775) a native of North America is recorded for the first time from Meerut India of a predator of grubs of Zygogramma bicolorata Nymphs and adult of two spotted stink bug predating on the grubs of Zygogramma bicolorata on Parthenium. Nymphs may pale yellow or reddish-orange in colour. There is a distinct black "Yshaped" marking on pronotum and two black spots on the prothorax of adults bug. (1). It is believed that the origin of the species is in the southern Rocky Mountains, but its range expanded with the expansion of the range of its primary prey, the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. P. bioculatus has repeatedly been introduced into several European countries since 1966 (e.g., Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia) (2), to control L. decemlineata. Documentation of establishment in the field is rather vague and often anectodal, but it probably was hindered by the different phenologies of predator and prey (3). However, observations of successful establishment in the field are available for Greece (Brustel in litt.) and confirmed for European Turkey (Eastern Thrace), where the species has been found since 1992(4-5). Occasionally this predator may provide control of the Colorado potato beetle, but it rarely occurs in large enough numbers to provide adequate control. In the laboratory the species is a polyphagous predator and the recent records come from non-potato fields and orchards. The objective of this study was to investigate the species composition of two spotted stink bug within the Meerut district of the Uttar Pradesh, India.
