Studies on Compatibility Between Predators and Insecticides in Management of Rice Leaf Folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee)

Field investigations carried out for two years (1999 and 2000) on efficacy of different insecticides and combination treatments on rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee) and its predators viz., rove beetles, ground beetles, spiders and coccinellids revealed that though synthetic insecticides flufenoxuron (100 g a.i./ha) and lambda cyhalothrin (25 g a.i./h) recorded lowest leaf folder damage, they adversely affected the population of the predators. In turn alternation treatments particularly those of Biobit + flufenoxuron, profenofos + Biobit, lambda-cyhalothrin + Biobit and thiamethoxam + Dispel besides providing effective control of leaf folder also conserved its major predators.