Abstract
In cotton fields, Zelus renardii Kolenati preyed on at least 15 species of arthropods of which 32% were cotton pests and 21% were potentially beneficial. The predator's attack strategy differed with the size and mobility of prey in laboratory studies. A venom was injected into prey after insertion of the proboscis. When larvae of tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), were removed from predators immediately after proboscis insertion, 87% of the prey died within 48 h. Predators ingested 72–99% of the live weight of H. virescens larvae and predator feeding was related to larval weight. Z. renardii displayed a relatively strong, positive functional response to different densities of larvae.

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