Mass Rearing Of Geocoris Punctipes And

Arthropod pests damage a considerable proportion of food crops. Because the option of relying strictlyon pesticides for arthropod control is becoming more unfeasible due to resistance, pesticide-relatedhealth risks, and an upcoming world food shortage, development of alternative strategies requiresimmediate attention. Because generalist predators feed on diverse assemblages of insect species,tremendous potential exists for pest management in cropping systems.Geocoris punctipes (Say) is an important predator of numerous pests frequently found on crops such ascotton, soybean, and alfalfa. Evidence strongly suggests that this predator has excellent potential foruse in augmentative biological control programs. A number of studies have investigated therequirements needed to rear this predator.Because quantities of G. punctipes suitable for mass-release are currently unavailable, Biotactics willinvestigate the feasibility of commercially producing this insect. Our objective is to establish rearingprotocols that will allow Biotactics to economically produce this insect as a viable biological controlorganism for the U.S. market. A large supply of commercially available G. punctipes insects willallow further evaluation of this insect and management of an array of insect pests using IPM andbiological control strategies.