Factors affecting the distribution of two mirid bugs, Creontiades pallidus (Rambur) and Campylomma diversicornis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) and notes on the parasitoid Leiophron decifiens Ruthe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract

This study shows how altitude, levels of flowering and squaring, and plant height are associated with the distribution and infestation rate of cotton fields by two mirid bugs, Creontiades pallidus (Rambur) and Campylomma diversicornis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) in the southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. We also describe the relationship between these mirids and the euphorine parasitoid, Leiophron decifiens (Ruthe) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Cotton field infestation by C. pallidus was negatively correlated with altitude and positively correlated with density of cotton squares and flowers. In contrast, C. diversicornis was present in all sampled fields together with the parasitoid L. decifiens; there were no significant correlations between their presence and altitude. The percentage of parasitism of C. pallidus nymphs by L. decifiens was low in both cotton and alfalfa, ranging between 1.6 and 6.5%. © Entomologica Fennica.