QUALITATIVE SURVEY OF 2 COLEOPTERAN PREDATORS OF BEMISIA-TABACI (HOMOPTERA, ALEYRODIDAE) AND PECTINOPHORA-GOSSYPIELLA (LEPIDOPTERA, GELECHIIDAE) USING A MULTIPLE PREY GUT CONTENT ELISA

A multiple serodiagnostic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MS ELISA) is described that facilitated the simultaneous examination of insect predation on two economically important cotton pests, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) and Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders). Using this MS ELISA in combination with specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to both B. tabaci and P. gossypiella, we assayed 663 collops beetles, Collops vittatus (Say), and 613 convergent ladybird beetles, Hippodamia convergens Guerin-Meneville for the presence of prey remains in the gut. A large proportion of each beetle population-tested positive, suggesting that collops and ladybird beetles are active predators on both B. tabaci and P. gossypiella. The advantages and limitations of our multiple prey gut content assay (MS ELISA) are discussed.