Life Table and Intrinsic Rate of Increase of Sycanus collaris Fabricius (Heteroptera:Reduviidae), a Predator of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae)

Abstract

The life table studies on Sycancus collaris Fabricius (Heteroptera: Reduviidae) under laboratory conditions revealed that the net reproductive rate (R 0 ) of the species was 30.46 female eggs/female. The true intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m ) was 0.066. The population multiplied 1.59 times every week and the time taken for the doubling of predator was 10.56 days. The total nymphal duration was 49.3±1.95 days. The life span of females was more (45.17±1.83 days) than males (31.83±2.48 days).