Biological characterization, phenotypic and genotypic structure of predatory stinkbug Perillus bioculatus Fabr. (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae) population in Krasnodar region

Perillus bioculatus Fabr. (1775) is a predatory bug in the family Pentatomidae, a prospective North American entomophage of the Colorado potato beetle. Earlier, Colorado potato beetle eggs were deemed the most preferable for the predator feeding and the main obstacle for perillus acclimatization on new territories. However, in monitoring perillus populations that have acclimatized in several areas of Krasnodar region for the last decade, we revealed the predators’ feeding on ragweed leaf beetle ( Zygogramma suturalis Fabr.) larvae and ragweed cutworm Tarachidia candefacta Hübn. ( Noctuidae : Lepidoptera ) caterpillars and also on all growth stages of Colorado potato beetle and other insects. In Krasnodar Krai perillus can give annually three generations and is present in three phenoforms, with red-black, orange-black and white-black scutellum. The abundance of P. bioculatus is influenced by feeding conditions and by other entomophages, e.g. egg-eaters of genus Trissolcus ( Hymenoptera : Scelionidae ) and tachina flies ( Diptera : Tachinidae )...