Abstract
Two cotton isolines, one with extra floral nectaries and one without, were compared to determine the effects of these nectaries on pest and predator abundance and on predation of Heliothis virescens (F.) eggs. The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, was found to be significantly more abundant on nectaried cotton and visited a significantly higher number of nectaried plants. Seasonal abundance of S. invicta was related to nectar flow in nectaried cotton, with ants more abundant on plants containing blooms. In addition, Prenolepis imparis (Say), Geocoris punctipes (Say), Chiracanthium inclusum (Hentz) and adults of Scymnus spp. were more abundant on nectaried cotton than on nectariless cotton during 1979. Larvae of Scymnus spp. were less abundant on nectaried cotton during 1980. Egg predation of H. virescens was not significantly higher on nectaried cotton, but averaged over 90% on both isolines.
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