Indian Journal of Entomology

The two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae is the most harmful pest that causes significant losses in most agricultural products. The experiment was conducted to explore the bio-control agents, from the serious pest predators and in the efficacy trial with Stethorus punctillum females consumed the highest number of 46.49 Tetranychus urticae eggs/ day, whereas females devoured 56.71 immature prey/day and larvae consumed 57.95 immature prey whereas the lowest was 24.32 adult prey. It has also been observed that female predators consume higher amount of prey. In the case of Scolothrips sexmaculatus the same trend of prey consumption has prevailed. Female predators consumed the highest number of 45.83 prey eggs daily, while the larva consumed the lowest number of 26.70 adult mites daily. The present study shows that the three predators, Phytoseiulus persimilis, Stethorus punctillum, and Scolothrips sexmaculatus, are very much predacious on two-spotted spider mites.