Oxycarenus laetus

Oxycarenus laetus, commonly known as the dusky cotton bug, is a species of plant bug belonging to the family Lygaeidae.[2] It is sometimes known as the Egyptian cotton stainer,[3] and is found in southern Asia where it is a pest of cotton, okra and other crops.

Oxycarenus laetus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Lygaeidae
Genus: Oxycarenus
Species:
O. laetus
Binomial name
Oxycarenus laetus
Kirby, 1891[1]

Distribution

Oxycarenus laetus is found in Iraq, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. In India and Pakistan it displaces Oxycarenus hyalinipennis on cotton; this species, commonly known as the cotton seed bug, occupies a similar niche in other cotton-growing regions of the world, with the exception of North America.[4]

Hosts

Oxycarenus laetus is a polyphagous insect, feeding on the seeds of a number of plants in the Malvaceae family. As well as being a pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.) crops, this insect is found on Abutilon indicum (Indian mallow), Sida acuta (common wireweed) and Thespesia populnea (portia tree). On these plants, populations are at their highest during the hotter months from March to July, and at their lowest between November and January. The insects seem to do best when the temperature is high and the humidity moderate.[2] Other host plants on which this bug can be found include Hibiscus sabdariffa (roselle), Hibiscus vitifolius (tropical rose mallow) and Hibiscus esculentus (okra).[5] Besides these plants on which the dusky cotton bug breeds, it feeds on a number of other plants and weeds including Deccan hemp, Dombeya burgessiae, Grewia asiatica, Melochia corchorifolia, Malva pusilla, Malva spp., Malvastrum spp. and Malvascus spp.[6]

Life cycle

The female Oxycarenus laetus lays a batch of cigar-shaped eggs between the lint and the calyx in half-open cotton bolls. The eggs hatch in between six and ten days, and the young develop through six nymphal stages before becoming fully grown in thirty to forty days.[3]

Ecology

Both adults and nymphs of Oxycarenus laetus feed on the developing seeds of the cotton plant. The seeds fail to develop properly and the lint gets stained. The predatory pirate bug Orius tantillus preys on the dusky cotton bug.[3]

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References
  1. Kirby, W. F. (1891). "Catalogue of the described Hemiptera Heteroptera and Homoptera of Ceylon, based on the collection formed by Mr. E. Ernest Green". Journal of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology. 24: 102. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1891.tb02479.x.
  2. Thangavelu, K. (1978). "Population dynamics of the dusky cotton bug Oxycarenus laetus Kirby in relation to climatic variation (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae)". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Animal Sciences). 87 (12): 387–395. doi:10.1007/BF03179028 (inactive 2020-01-10).
  3. Mosich, A.N.; Larsen, E. John (1978). The CPA Examination: Text, Problems, and Solutions. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-07-043435-6.
  4. Samy, O. 1969. A revision of the African species of Oxycarenus (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae). Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 121(4): 79 – 165. link
  5. Thangavelu, K. (1978). "Some aspects of host specificity in the Indian dusky cotton bug, Oxycarenus laetus Kirby (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae)". Journal of Natural History. 12 (5): 481–486. doi:10.1080/00222937800770341.
  6. Schaefer, Carl W.; Panizzi, Antonio Ricardo (2000). Heteroptera of Economic Importance. CRC Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1-4200-4185-9.
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