Effects of Insecticides on the Predaceous Arthropod Fauna of Louisiana Sugarcane Fields

Abstract

Several surveys showed that heptachlor applied to sugarcane fields for control of the imported fire ant (Solenopsis saevissima v. richteri Forel) caused increases in infestations of the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis (F.)), probably by suppressing populations of predatory arthropods. Endrin, which provides excellent control of the sugarcane borer, caused some reduction in the number of predators collected from pitfall traps. A list of the species of predators collected during the summer of 1958 from pitfall traps located at several plantations in southern Louisiana is presented. Twenty-three of the species of spiders collected had not previously been reported to occur in Louisiana. A predatory mite Camerotrombidium sp. was collected at four plantations. This is the first record of the occurrence of this genus in the western hemisphere.