Can Generalist Predator <em>Calosoma chinense</em> Kirby Control <em>Spodoptera frugiperda</em> (J. E. Smith)?

Abstract: Calosoma chinense Kirby is a generalist predatory that consumes multiple pests.To better elucidate the behavioral and ecological aspects of this species, we identified the field species and investigated the predation capacity of the third instar larvae and both sexes of adults against the first to six instar larvae, pupae, male and female adults of Spodoptera frugiperda.The predation choice for different developmental stage of S. frugiperda were further conducted. Our results showed that C. sinensis at different developmental stages could prey on S. frugiperda at various stages, especial to larvae and adults, which possess strong predatory abilities. Among them, female adults of C. sinensis exhibited the strongest predatory ability against S. frugiperda 1st instar larvae, with the highest daily consumption of 38.90 ± 0.79 individuals. 1st instar larvae of C. sinensis also showed a certain predatory ability towards S. frugiperda, with the daily consumption of 6.95 ± 0.88 1st instar larvae individuals of S. frugiperda per predator. The predation ability of C. sinensis larvae increased with instar, particularly for 1st to 3rd instar S. frugiperda larvae, C. sinensis female adults have the strongest predation ability, followed by male adults, and then the 3rd instar larvae. However, there was no significant difference in predation capacity between 4th to 6th instar larvae and male and female adults of S. frugiperda, nor between two sexes adults and 3rd instar larvae of C. sinensis. The predation choice experiment revealed that the 3rd instar larvae, male and female adults of C. sinensis showed a positive preference to S. frugiperda larvae from the 1st to 4th instar, while to the 5th to 6th instar exhibited a negative preference. Overall, C. sinensis exhibited a strong ability to prey on S. frugiperda, indicating it have the potential for application in biological control.