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Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: We describe a novel immunomarking technique that compliments an existing predator gut content immunoassay. We combine predator gut content ELISA to detect silverleaf whitefly (SLW) prey remains in a predators gut with an immunomarking technique. We marked commercially-purchased lady beetles with either rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) or chicken IgG. Beetles marked with rabbit IgG were released in a cotton field and those marked with chicken IgG were released in an adjacent cantaloupe field. Beetles were recaptured by vacuum 3, 7, and 14 d after release. We concurrently ran 3 ELISAs on each individual collected. Results indicated that the proportion of augmented beetles containing whitefly prey remains was always higher than the proportion of native beetles containing whitefly prey remains. The proportion of beetles preying on whitefly eggs was about the same whether they were foraging in cotton or melon. The whitefly egg-specific MAb was an nexcellent tool for evaluating predator feeding behavior of native and augmented predator populations and the technique was useful for (1) studying the intercrop movement of a predaceous natural enemy and (2) differentiating between native and released predator populations. The combination of these techniques facilitated the quality control monitoring of commercially purchased predators for augmentative biological control. |
