Biodiversity of major predators associated with stem borers in rice ecosystem of Kerala, India

Rice is the staple food crop and is grown extensively in India. Insect-pests take a heavy toll of rice crop, rice belt of Kerala resulting in losses in grain yields. Insect specific predators and parasites used in biological control acts as natural biological control agents for these insect pests in the region. Keeping in view the above facts, surveys was conducted in Kharif season of 2018 to study natural enemy diversity (Predators) prevalent in rice in wetland rice ecosystem of South Kerala at three locations (Thiruvananthapuram, Onattukara and Kuttanad). The results revealed that predators like dragon fly’s damsel flies, coccinellids and spiders were found to be the major natural enemies in wetland rice ecosystem of South Kerala. Among the three locations, the highest population of major predators, dragon flies, damsel flies, coccinellids and spiders were recorded in Kuttanad and the lowest recorded in Onattukara.