In laboratory studies on the nymphal and adult performance of the cotton stainers Dysdercus cardinalis and D. fasciatus (Pyrrhocoridae: Hemiptera) on seeds of five different host plants, two categories of hosts with significantly (P < 0.05) different biological effects were identified. Gossypium hirsutum L., Ceiba pentrandra Gaertn and Sterculia rhynchocarpa (K. Schum) were found to be suitable hosts (category A) while Adansonia digitata L. and Abutilon mauritianum (Jacq. Medic.) were unsuitable (category B). Category A hosts that grew in the wild appear to serve as perennial breeding reservoirs for the cotton stainers and thus play a significant role in initiating and perpetuating their infestation of adjacent cotton crops. The converse appears to be true for category B hosts, whose long-term effect would be to gradually decrease the population of the cotton stainers.
