Ecology of aphidophagous predators in pomegranate ecosystem in India

The aphid, Aphis punicae Passerini (Homoptera : Aphididae) is a serious pest attacking pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), an important semi arid fruit crop grown widely in most parts of the country. The major predators found preying on A. punicae in pomegranate ecosystem were Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius), Scymnus sp., Pseudaspidemerus circumflexo (Motsch.), Paragus serratus (Fabricius), Ischiodon scutellaris (Fabricius) and Chrysopa sp. The population dynamics and spatial distribution of these predators in an unsprayed pomegranate ecosystem were studied at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore (12 degrees 58' N; 77 degrees 35'E), India during 2000-2002. The predators were found to be distributed uniformly among different tree quadrants and followed the same distributional pattern of A. punicae during their peak in January and February. The predator density was relatively higher in lower canopies than upper canopies. The spatial distribution of predators showed aggregate distribution pattern at higher mean densities and exhibited regular or under-dispersed distribution at lower mean densities. The temporal distribution of aphidophagous predators on A. punicae showed two peaks one during January - February and second during August - September The population of predators started building up along with aphid population and reached maximum at high aphid densities and declined as the prey availability declined. This indicated that predators followed the same trend of their prey, A. punicae, showing a clear numerical response.