Sycanus indagator is a species of assassin bug found in India.[1] It has been used a biological control agent in parts of the United States for its potential as a predator of lepidopteran caterpillars such as Spodoptera frugiperda although in some lab experiments, they preferred the larvae of Galleria mellonella.[2] Their potential for use against Pseudoplusia includens caterpillars in soybean fields has also been tested in the past in the US. The eggs take about 10-17 days to hatch depending on the temperature and the adults took five nymphal moults with a total egg to adult duration of 80 to 100 days at tropical temperatures (and twice as long at lower temperatures).[3]
| Sycanus indagator | |
|---|---|
| |
| From Mysore, India | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Heteroptera |
| Family: | Reduviidae |
| Genus: | Sycanus |
| Species: | S. indagator
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sycanus indagator Stål, 1863
| |
References edit
- ^ Stål, Carl (1863). "Formae speciesque novae Reduviidum". Annales de la Société entomologique de France. 4. 3: 25–58.
- ^ Bass, J. A.; Shepard, M. (1974). "Predation by Sycanus Indagator on Larvae of Galleria Mellonella and Spodoptera Frugiperda1". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 17 (2): 143–148. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1974.tb00329.x.
- ^ Greene, G.L. (1973). "Biological Studies of a Predator Sycanus indagator: I. Life History and Feeding Habits". The Florida Entomologist. 56 (3): 255–257. doi:10.2307/3493133. JSTOR 3493133.