Bioecology of major coccinellid predators of Kerala

Abstract

An investigation on “Bioecology of major coccinellid predators of Kerala” was carried out at Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2017-2022 with the objective to identify major coccinellid predators of pests infesting agricultural crops from agro ecological zones of Kerala and to study biology and predatory potential of select coccinellids. In the present investigation, 40 species of predatory coccinellids belonging to 23 genera under 6 tribes in the Subfamily Coccinellinae were illustrated. Taxonomic study on tribes Aspidimerini and Chilocorini resulted in the identification of three species in each tribe. Examination on specimens of tribe Coccidulini resulted in identifying 16 species within five genera. 11 species belonging to nine genera were illustrated under tribe Coccinellini. A single species was illustrated and studied under tribe Hyperaspidini. The specimens studied under tribe Sticholotidini belonged to six species within four genera. Among the 40 illustrated species, 28 species were identified, while identity of 12 species are to be confirmed, of which three are putative new species. Phrynocaria perfida Poorani collected and illustrated during this investigation were confirmed and described as a new species (Poorani et al., 2021). Chilocorus sp.1 and Scymnus (Pullus) sp.4 are the other two putative new species. Phrynocaria perrotetti (Mulsant), Cryptogonus orbiculus (Gyllenhal) and Sticholotis ferruginea (Gorham) are new records from Kerala.