Fabre, J.P., Devergne, J.C., & Riom, J. 1982 [Study of the possibilities of feeding of Elatophilus nigricornis (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Anthocoridae) on the larvae of Matsucoccus feytaudi (Coccoidea Margarodidae) by means of immunochemical methods.]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 18(1): 31-42.

Notes: Under natural conditions, an annual and systematic drop in the population level of E. nigricornis Zetterstedt was observed. These low levels, responsible for the inefficacy of the predator, coincides with the presence of the 1st larval stage (where it is attached at the base of cracks in the (pine) bark) of M. feytaudi Ducasse. Immunochemical, immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis methods were used to verify if the larvae of Matsucoccus were true prey of Elatophilus. Many weak anti Matsucoccus serums were obtained from the eggs of Matsucoccus. They were very specific and revealed from 3-6 characteristic antigens of this species. This prey was positively identified in the digestive tube of E. nigricornis. E. nigricornis feeds on M. feytaudi beginning with the larvae of the 1st and 2nd stages where it is attached to the base of cracks in the bark. Anthocoridae feeds on Matsucoccus in its mobile stages. Other predators of the scale insect also exist in the cracks of the bark. The utilization of immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis, because of their specificity and sensitivity, prove predator-prey relationships in spite of the quantity of prey necessary to prepare the immunoserums.