Predatory Ability of (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) for Suppression of Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

The lepidopteran pest, (JE Smith), spread rapidly after its first detection in China and has caused significant yield loss to maize production in the southwestern part of the country. Although natural enemies of are present in the field, biological control using naturally distributed predators is ineffective because their underlying populations are too low. To enhance our understanding of the potential role of natural enemies in regulating this invasive pest, functional response experiments were conducted to quantify the response of two predators, (Poppius) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), in terms of consumption of . Experimental results revealed that the predatory effects of nymphs of and on the eggs and larvae of fitted Holling's Type II functional response model. Importantly, the theoretical maximum number of prey consumed per day (), the instantaneous attack rate () and the handling time () of nymphs on eggs were 15.19, 0.7444 and 0.049 d, respectively; and the parameters on first instar larvae of were 700.24, 0.5602 and 0.0008 d, respectively. These data contrast to those of , where the , and of adults on eggs of were 130.73, 1.1112 and 0.085 d, respectively, and on the first instar larvae of were 1401.1, 0.8407 and 0.0006 d, respectively. These results revealed that is a highly voracious predator of the eggs and young larvae of and could also be used as biocontrol agent of this pest. Our work provides a theoretical framework for the application of natural enemies to control in the field. Further research is required to strategize conservation biological control approaches in the field to increase populations of these predators and enhance the suppression of .