Punya Balachanda Nachappa, punya@uga.edu, S. Kristine Braman, kbraman@griffin.uga.edu, and Paul Guillebeau, bugman@uga.edu. University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, Athens, GA
The two annual generations of Prosapia bicincta (Say), the twolined spittlebug (TLS), nymphs and adults are economic pests of turfgrass. Adults also cause economic damage on ornamental hollies. Integrated pest management (IPM) tools of spittlebugs are rudimentary because little is known about their biology and ecological interactions. Sound background knowledge about this pest and its natural enemy complex is vital for the development and implementation of a detailed, site-specific, biologically based pest management program in turfgrass. Laboratory, greenhouse and field bioassays were conducted to investigate predation of TLS eggs, nymphs and adults by generalist predators commonly found in turfgrass: big-eyed bugs (BEB) (Geocoris uliginosus Say, G. punctipes Say), red imported fire ants (RIFA) (Solenopsis invincta Buren), wolf spiders (Lycosa spp. Walckenaer), and carabid beetles (Harpalaus pennsylvanicus DeGeer, Calosoma sayi Dejean). Eggs were vulnerable to attack from BEB, ground-dwelling beetles and RIFA. Nymphs live in spittle masses that protect them from attack of predators, but they were susceptible to attack from predators when mechanically removed from their spittle mass. Adults are aposematic and have the ability to reflex bleed; however, reflex bleeding did not prevent attack and consumption by predators. Identification of TLS predators has practical implications for developing an IPM program for TLS.
Species 1: Homoptera Cercopidae
Prosapia bicincta (twolined spittlebug)
Keywords: Predation, Spittlebugs
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