Occurrence of Coccinellid Fauna on Sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. in Selected Districts of Southern Karnataka

Extensive surveys were conducted in the southern districts of Karnataka, viz., Chamarajnagar, Chikkaballapura, Mandya and Chikkamagaluru on the occurrence of coccinellid predatory fauna in sunflower during the Kharif seasons of 2013–14 and 2014–15. A total of three entomophagous coccinellid species (Cheilomenes sexmaculata Fab., Coccinella transversalis Fab. and Coccinella septumpunctata L.) and one mycophagous coccinellid (Illeis cincta Fab.) species were recorded during both the seasons. During both the seasons, entomophagous coccinellids were found in highest numbers during vegetative stage of the crop and under irrigated conditions than during the flowering stage and under rainfed condition, whereas, maximum mycophagous beetle (I. cincta) population and its prey (powdery mildew) was found during flowering stage of the crop than in the vegetativestage, besides itsoccurrence was maximum under irrigated situation than under rainfed cropping situation at all the locations surveyed.