PHEROMONE-INDUCED MOVEMENT OF NYMPHS OF THE PREDATOR, PODISUS-MACULIVENTRIS (HETEROPTERA, PENTATOMIDAE)

Males of the generalist predator, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Heterop tera: Pentatomidae) (known as the spined soldier bug), attract mates w ith a pheromone, but the immature stages of the predator also appeared to be attracted. Therefore, attraction of nymphs of P. maculiventris to pheromone was studied in a wind tunnel and in held plots. The behav ior of individual nymphs toward pheromone with and without Colorado po tato beetles, Leptinotarsa decemilineata (Say) (Chrysomelidae), and/or potato plants in the airstream was studied in a wind tunnel. Field ex periments were performed in plots planted with green beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L. that were allowed to become naturally infested with Mexica n bean beetles, Epilachna vapivestis (Moulsant) (Coccinellidae). Spine d soldier bug nymphs were released in the middle row of plots planted for 3 weeks, and three commercial pheromone dispensers were placed out side the thirteenth row of a plot. Podisus maculiventris nymphs were s ignificantly attracted to synthetic pheromone both in the laboratory a nd in the field. Results of wind tunnel experiments indicated that com bining the pheromone with the phytophage significantly increased the p ositive responses of nymphs compared to the pheromone alone; however, inclusion of damaged or undamaged potato plants with pheromone did not enhance the positive responses to the odor source. Spined soldier bug s released in field plots remained relatively sedentary for the first day after release, but by the end of the 1-week sampling period nymphs had significantly moved into rows nearer the pheromone dispensers. Th e ability to manipulate immature spined soldier bugs significantly exp ands the potential for using this generalist predator in integrated pe st management programs. (C) 1997 Academic Press.