Functional response of Xylocoris falvipes, a biological control agent of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum

Abstract

The warehouse pirate bug Xylocoris falvipes is an opportunist predator of many stored product insect pests. Its functional response in relationship with variable densities of prey appears as the Holling\'s type II model. The predator X. falvipes, collected within small holder granaries in Mayo Danay division in the far North province of Cameroon, feeds on Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and could perform a good biological control of this pest.

Keywords: predation, functional response, Xylocoris falvipes, Tribolium castaneum, biological control, stored products

Cameroon Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 4 (1) 2008: pp. 39-42