Ecotype Selection of Acanthaspis pedestris Stål (Heteroptera:Reduviidae) for Mass Multiplication by UPGMA Cluster Analysis

Acanthaspis pedestris Stål is an important reduviid predator found in the scrub jungles and agroecosystems of India predating on a number of insect pests and it is used as a bio-control agent. But its use is limited due to its scarcity at times when pests are often most abundant. The only possible way to overcome this difficulty is to mass culture this predator in the laboratory and supply them to the farmers. The practice of mass culturing leads to inbreeding which renders the species ultimately less effective against the pests. In order to overcome this shortfall, the morphological and biological characteristics of A. pedestris collected from seven ecotypes were subjected to UPGMA cluster analysis and the distantly related ecotypes were identified. By this method, it is possible to select and use two distantly related ecotypes for mating which can restore the genetic variability. Thus, the suggested approach makes the biocontrol agent effective even under mass culturing.