File: <elaterid.htm> [For teaching purposes only; do not review,
quote or abstract] Terminology <Principal
Natural Enemy Groups>
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COLEOPTERA, Elateridae Please refer also to the
following links for details on this group:
The family is largely phytophagous, and the
larvae of most species are major crop pests.
However, a considerable number of genera have species that are
predaceous on insects rather than being phytophagous. Because the larvae are largely soil
inhabiting, they feed on such other soft-bodied insects as they find. Thus, scarabaeid grubs are among the most
frequent prey. Monocrepidius pallipes
Esch. is an important natural enemy of white grubs in Fiji and has not been
found to attack sugarcane, while M. exsul Sharp preys on grubs
but also is destructive to young sugarcane in the pacific Islands (Williams
1931). Pyrophorus luminosus
Ill. is the "cucubano" of the West Indies, which serves as a
natural control of various cane grubs of the family Scarabaeidae. It has been imported to several tropical
areas for biological control of scarabs.
Several species occur in decaying wood where they prey on larvae of
various xylophagous insects (Clausen 1940/62). References: Please refer
to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional
references may be found at: MELVYL
Library ] |