Volume 24, Issue 73, January - June, 2023

First photographic record of the feeding of tree bug (Dyscercus cingulatus) on Tawny coster butterfly (Acraea terpsicore) from Mumbai, India

Heena Momin¹, Shakir Momin^2♦

¹Department of Zoology, GM Momin Women’s College, Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, India
²Department of Zoology, Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Zoology, Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Dyscercus cingulatus, a hemipteran bug commonly known as red cotton stainer belonging to the family Pyrrhocoridae, is known for destroying plants. It is a severe pest that mainly attacks cotton plants, such as developing bolls and the seed by the adult and older nymphs. They suck the plant sap with the help of rostrum and while doing this it also transfers microorganisms (fungi) and makes the plant sick and infected. Although the hemiptera is the most ecologically and systematically diverse assemblage of insects little is known about new food preferences. However, this is the first record of a Dyscercus cingulatus feeding on a carnivorous diet from Mumbai, India.

Keywords: Red cotton stainer, carnivorous diet, male plain tiger butterfly

Species, 2023, 24(73), e47s1543

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v24i73/e47s1543

Published: 29 May 2023