Incidence of Illeis cincta on Powdery Mildew of Dalbergia sisso And Xanthium strumarium Thite S.V., Chavan Y.R.

, Aparadh V.T.,and Kore B.A. Department of Botany ,Y.C.I.S.Satara 415001(M.S.),India. sachinthiteg4@gmail.com Abstract: Powdery Mildew is a widely distributed and more destructive disease in nature. Chemical control of fungal pathogen is a routine method for management of such disease. One cannot rely on chemical control permanently as is not ecofriendly .Nature has solved this problem by providing biocontrol agents. During routine survey of powdery mildew disease from a World Heritage Site Kas Plateau, (Dist-Satara)(M.S), mycophagous behavior of Illeis cincta on Dalbergia sisso and Xanthium strumarium has been reported. Introduction: The predaceous insects of family Coccinellidae are commonly known as ladybirds. The family name comes from its type genus, Coccinella. Most of them are of bright shining colors with a pattern of spots or patches against a contrasting background. Many appear to be distasteful to birds and their conspicuous appearance is an example of warning coloration (Moreton, 1969) . These beetles have extremely diverse habitat. Present throughout the year, particularly active in post-rainy season. Commonly found feeding on various powder mildews caused by Phyllactinia corylea , Podosphaera, Sphaerotheca, and Oidium spp., infesting sunflower, mulberry, Xanthium strumarium, cowpea, chillies, Pedulanthus sp., etc.. Numerous species of coccinellids are predators and biological major control agents of hemipteran pests such as aphids, mealybugs and scale insects, as well as thrips (Thysonoptera) and mites (Acarina) in all parts of the world (Moreton, 1969; Hawkeswood, 1987; Majerus, 1994). The majority of beetles are useful because of their predaceous nature; but some are harmful, being polyphagous. The other coccinellids are

predators of a variety of pests viz., aphids, leafhoppers, scale insects, mealybugs, mites and other softbodied insects (Omkar and Bind, 1996). Some are specific in their food choice, while many are polyphagous. The family Coccinellidae comprises 5,200 described species worldwide (Hawkeswood, 1987) the coccinellid fauna of the Indian subcontinent is rich and diverse, but remains very poorly studied as compared to those from other zoogeographical regions of the world. The bjective of this study was to investigate the feeding behavior of Illeis cincta on Dalbergia sisso &Xanthium strumarium .

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study area: Satara district at the western limits of the Deccan table land lies between 17o 50 and 18o 11 North latitude and 73o 31 and 74o 75East longitude at 696 m amsl. It has an area of 10,417 sq. km. Illeis cincta (Fabricius)was studied for their incidence on the Dalbergia sisso &Xanthium strumarium Satara district in Maharashtra. It was observed feeding on the powdery mildew infesting the leaves of Xanthium strumarium, (Asteraceae), Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. (Leguminosae). In the months of September and October(2012) their populations were found to be abundant as the disease was also found in an epidemic proportion almost infecting every leaf and observed in their under surfaces The lady bird beetles were reared in the laboratory and observed for their feeding behavior. Illeis cincta was photographed using stereo binocular microscope.

Diagnosis: Length 4.00-4.68 mm, width 3.05-3.60 mm. Form elongate oval, moderately convex. Head pale luteous to creamy yellow. Eyes separated by more than one eye width. Pronotum with a pair of median black spots on posterior margin; anterior and lateral margins transparent, lateral margins slightly upturned. Elytra bright lemon yellow with transparent lateral margins. Ventral side more or less uniformly yellowish. Antenna long, with all segments much longer than broad, with a loosely-jointed, three-segmented club, last segment spatulate. Male genitalia and female spermatheca as illustrated. Larva lemon yellow, with four longitudinal rows of black spots on dorsal side. Pupa pale yellow with areas of grey and black markings. Illeis (= Thea) cincta (Fabricius) The adult beetle is about 5.2 mm long and 4.0 mm broad across the middle elytra.

The head is yellowish in color with a pair of prominent black eyes. Two spots are situated on the dorsolateral aspects of posterior margin of the thorax. The thorax and elytra are shiny yellowish in color. Result Discussion: It was observed that both adults and grubs feed on the powdery mildews. The first instar caused very small specks and had a very poor feeding capacity while all the other instars upto the were actively feeding Maximum feeding rates were observed in the full grown larva and in prepupal larva as these feed large parches of the powdery mildew infestations.( Fig-1,e,f) Before pupation there was cessation of feeding and the pupa was found to be exarate type, found attached with leaf surfaces. As far as feeding potential is concerned, the instars can be ranked as follows: third, fourth, adults, second and first with third instar being the most voracious and with terrific feeding rates. Adults were seen on all parts of the plants while the grubs were more aggregated on the leaves affected with powdery mildew. They were found on the lower surface of the leaves during the period of bright sun. Population of adults ranged from 5- 12 per plant. The later instars and adults were also more prevalent on older and heavy infested leaves.

References: Hawkeswood, T. 1987. Beetles of Australia. Augus and Robertson, Sydney, Australia Moreton BD. 1969. Ladybirds and spider mites. In: Beneficial insects and Mites. Her Majesty, Stationary Office London. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Bulletin 20: 15-20.

Majerus, M. E. N. 1994. Ladybirds. Harper Collins London, 359 pp. Omkar and Bind, R. B. 1996. Records of aphid natural enemies complex of Uttar Pradesh . V. The coccinellids. Journal of Advance Zoology, 17: 44-48.