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Biology of green lacewing, Apertochrysa astur (Banks) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and its predatory potential against invasive Rugose Spiralling Whitefly, Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin and Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari Peracchi (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) of coconut

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Abstract

The invasive whitefly species, Rugose Spiralling Whitefly (RSW) and Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly (BNW) in coconut were reported in 2016 at Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India and in 2019 in Kerala, India, respectively. Among the natural enemies of whiteflies, Apertochrysa astur (Banks) is predominant in coconut ecosystem. Morphology, biology, and predatory potential of A. astur have been studied. The duration of first, second, and third instar grubs of A. astur was 3.65 ± 0.109, 5.4 ± 0.184, and 6.15 ± 0.167 days when provided with RSW. Likewise, the duration of first, second, and third instar grubs of A. astur when fed with BNW averaged 3.8 ± 0.172, 6.0 ± 0.145, and 6.8 ± 0.225 days, respectively. In a laboratory experiment on the predatory potential, a third instar grub of A. astur devoured a maximum of 313 and 333 second instar nymphs of RSW and BNW, respectively. The grubs of A. astur were observed to be extremely efficient in terms of predatory potential with respect to A. rugioperculatus and P. bondari. The results supported that A. astur can be employed as an efficient biological control agent for the invasive whitefly species in the coconut ecosystem.

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Abbreviations

RSW:

Rugose Spiralling Whitefly

BNW:

Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly

PDBC:

Project Directorate of Biological Control

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, for providing the facilities and support. The assistance provided by Mr. Mani in recording the observations is acknowledged.

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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu, India

    X. Remoniya, S. Jeyarajan Nelson, S. Jeyarani & N. Chitra

  2. Centre of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. Mohankumar

  3. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu, India

    U. Sivakumar

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X. Remoniya: For collection, analysis and interpretation of data; drafting the manuscript. S. Jeyarajan Nelson: Advisor for the research work and for drafting the manuscript. All other authors approved the final manuscript.

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Remoniya, X., Jeyarajan Nelson, S., Jeyarani, S. et al. Biology of green lacewing, Apertochrysa astur (Banks) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and its predatory potential against invasive Rugose Spiralling Whitefly, Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin and Bondar’s Nesting Whitefly, Paraleyrodes bondari Peracchi (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) of coconut. Int J Trop Insect Sci 44, 91–104 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-023-01112-5

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