PREDATORS AND PARASITOIDS OF INSECT PESTS OF UPLAND RICE

The objective of this study was to make an inventory of predatory and parasitoid arthropods of rainfed rice insect pests in Maroua. Insects were captured using sweep nets in a random fashion over an area of 2500 m2. 100 double sweeps (200 sweeps) were made per net and repeated five times, for a total of 1000 sweeps per collection. Collections were made every two weeks at each stage of rice development (seedling, tillering and heading). Nine species of predators and four species of parasitoids were identified, the most abundant being Araneus sp. of the family Araneidae and Platygaster sp. of the family Platygasteridae. The dynamics showed that the predator population grows rapidly while the parasitoid population decreases during the development of the plant.