Influence of Cotton Crop Types on the Variation of <i>Phonoctonus lutescens</i> Population Guérin Meneville and Percheron (Heteroptera: Reduvidae), a Predator of <i>Dysdercus voëlkeri</i> (Schmidt 1932) (Heteroptera: Pyrrochoridae) in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Phonoctonus lutescens which is a predator of Dysdercus vo &#235; lkeri (Schmidt, 1932) is present in cotton fields at the same time as its prey, D. vo &#235; lkeri . The objective of this study was to see which of the biological control or chemical control programs spares and maintains the potentially beneficial insects, especially P. lutescens . This study was conducted at three sites: Farako B &#226; site located in the southern Sudanian zone and has geographical coordinates between 04 &#730; 20' West and 11 &#730; 06' North. The site of Kombissiri with 12'04'' North and 1'20'' West as geographical coordinates. The site of Kouaré with the following coordinates: 11'56'' North and 0'17'' East. The design was a 2000 m 2 paired trial subdivided into 3 subplots of 640 m 2 on the three sites. The sample area is repeated 4 times in each plot. All data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS software (version 22.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, Usa). When significance occurred, means were separated by Bonferroni test (p < 0.05). All data were presented as the mean ± standard errors with 3 replications. For insect pests, conventional cotton was more affected by whitefly with 0.42 ± 1.10 and organic cotton by jassids with 0.75 ± 1.66 at Farako b &#226; . The untreated plot was significantly less infested at Kombissiri with 0.25 ± 1.38 Dysdercus vo &#235; lkeri than at the other sites. In Fada, the organic cotton was more infested by whitefly larvae and jassid flies, with respectively 0.73 ± 2.25 and 0.22 ± 0.54 plants attacked on average. For beneficial insects, the levels of presence in Farako b &#226; varied from 0.17 ± 0.66 to 0.02 ± 0.1 on organic cotton than on the other treatments. At Kombissiri the levels of beneficial insects varied more on organic cotton from 0.021 ± 0.20 to 0.026 ± 0.15 than on untreated cotton and conventional cotton. These levels ranged from 0.04 ± 0.21 to 0.26 ± 0.86 on organic cotton than on the other treatments. The seed cotton yield ranged from 500.52 to 946.8 for conventional cotton, from 531.25 to 853.13 for organic cotton and from 493.75 to 763.54 for untreated cotton. P. lutescens was discreet about the types of cotton grown. Neem oil is positioned as one of the alternatives to biopesticides that can be used in organic cotton cultivation. The results suggest P. lutescens is more adapted to integrated cotton pest management program in Burkina Faso.