All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030, India
Experiments were carried out on the biology and biocontrol potentiality of the Mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter under greenhouse and field conditions. The predator could not survive on rice plant (T (N) 1) for a longer period but completed its life cycle on eggs and early stage nymphs of leaf and planthoppers. Different stages of the predator, viz., egg, nymphs and adult took 7, 11 and 40 days, respectively. On an average, 147 eggs were laid by a female. Comparatively greater predation was observed on eggs of planthoppers. Early stage nymphs of leaf hopper and planthoppers suffered greater mortality due to Mirid bug. Under field conditions, prey: predator in ratio of 4:1 was found, to check the damage due to brown planthopper in rice varieties.
