67 Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 91 (5): 723–8, May 2021/Article Mirid bugs as an emerging threat to bottle gourd cultivation: Dynamics and management JAYDEEP HALDER 1 , DEEPAK KUSHWAHA 1 , DIBYENDU DEB 2 , DEBJANI DEY 3 and A B RAI 1 ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221 305, India Received: 16 August 2020; Accepted: 17 December 2020 ABSTRACT First record of concurrent occurrence of mirid bugs Nesidiocoris cruentatus (Ballard) and Metacanthus pulchellus Dallas as serious and emerging pests of bottle gourd from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India is reported hereunder. Studies carried out during 2016-17 indicated that about 70-80% fruits and 30% shoots were damaged by these bugs. Infested leaves showed, minute puncture spots with yellow hallows. Damage was more prominent on young fruits with typical brown puncture spots on the rind with sap oozing out were the characteristic symptoms of these sucking pests. Affected fruits therefore had signifcantly reduced market value. Studies on species composition of two mirid bugs showed that N. cruentatus was dominant species contributing overall 68.63% of the mirid bug population infesting bottle gourd followed by M. pulchellus (31.37%). N. cruentatus exhibited a strong diurnal activity as its incidence increased during day time gradually from 10 am onwards, with peak occurrence at 1 pm (3.88 bugs/fruit). Amongst the biopesticides evaluated under laboratory conditions, neem oil (1%) was found most promising with lowest median lethal time (50.31 h) followed by Beauveria bassiana (52.26 h) and Lecanicillium lecanii (56.59 h), whereas Flonicamid 50% WG and Spiromesifen 22.9% SC were most promising chemicals under feld and laboratory conditions. Keywords: Bionomics, Damage symptoms, Entomopathogens, Feeding preference, Insecticides Present address: 1 ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi; 2 ICAR- Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh; 3 ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. *Corresponding author e-mail: jaydeep.halder@gmail.com Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standley (Bottle gourd), a very popular cucurbitaceous vegetable crop, is grown all through out the year almost across the India. It forms a rich source of vitamins, iron, choline and minerals. It is easily digestible and good for diabetes, insomnia, urinary infection, ulcers, constipation etc. (Parle and Kaur 2011). This crop is attacked by a large number of insect pests throughout its growth period. Apart from occurrence of its regular insect pests, viz. fruit fy and red pumpkin beetle, recently, heavy, incidence of mirid bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) occurred on tender leaves and young fruits of bottle gourd in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, India. In the beginning, minute puncture spots with yellow hallows were observed on tender leaves. The damage was more prominent in young fruits. Brown puncture spots on the rind with sap oozing out from the tender fruits is the characteristic symptoms of these sucking pests. Several local farmers visiting the institute also reported the same problem. The damaged fruits often failed to fetch a good market price. The two mirid bugs were taxonomically identifed as Nesidiocoris cruentatus (Ballard) and Metacanthus pulchellus Dallas. Recently, occurrence of N. cruentatus on bottle gourd was reported from Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (Ranganath et al. 2015). Earlier, M. pulchellus recorded as a pest of bottle gourd from eastern part of the India (Dhiman 1991). But present studies revealed the concurrent occurrence of both these mirid bug species on bottle gourd. So far, there is no information about the concurrent occurrence of both the mirid bugs on bottle gourd. This prompted to conduct a detailed study to know the pest dynamics, nature of damage, distribution among plant canopy, feeding preference, infuence of cultivation technique so as to devise suitable control measures for this nefarious pest as practically no literature is available about these mirids. Moreover, the present study will also help to identify the most suitable bioagents(s) and chemical(s) and their most appropriate time and place of application for its ecofriendly management in bottle gourd. MATERIALS AND METHODS Studies on morphology, species composition, seasonal incidence, feeding behavior, plant part preference, diurnal activity, infuence of cultivation practices, and suitable bioagents and chemical insecticides were carried out during summer (March to June), rainy (July to October) and winter (November to February) 2016-2017 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi (82°52' https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v91i5.113071