School of Aquatic Entomology and Biocontrol Research, Department of Zoology, Loyola College, Chennai - 600 034, India.
Multispecies predator group Ranatra, Diplonychus and Laccotrephes was exposed to various prey densities of small and large sized Culex larvae for 1 hour and 24 hours duration separately. The predatory performance of the mixed predator populations was directly proportional to increase in prey density. The trend in predation rate was the same with smaltand large sized prey population of Culex larvae. Variations in 24 hours treatment were phenomenal than the others. The interaction between the predator number and prey size was inversely proportional for one hour and 24 hours treatments. Also changes in the predatory performance for 1 hour treatment were distinct than the other.
