Release methods for Perillus bioculatus (F), a predator of the Colorado potato beetle

Perillus bioculatus (F.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) provided excellent control of the Colorado potato beetle [Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)] in small plots when released in the nymph stage and nearly as good control when it was released in the egg stage where eggs were protected in screened cups. When unprotected P. bioculatus eggs were scattered on the foliage, very few survived. Nine of 12 arthropod species, collected from the field and tested in petri dishes in the laboratory, ate more than 60% of P. bioculatus eggs, nymphs, or both. Thus, while P. bioculatus egg release shows promise as a method for controlling the Colorado potato beetle, effective methods for protecting eggs and newly hatched nymphs from predators need to be devised. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.