A model is presented for predicting the cotton fruit damage reduction potential of the convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens G—erin-MŠneville, and the soft flower beetle, Collops quadrimaculatus (F) from the bollworm, Heliothis zea H. virescens (F).

The model predicts damage reduction by estimating percent occupancy of the two species in 1/5000 acre quadrants. The correlation between occupancy and damage reduction is 0.99, indicating that if 1 or more convergent lady beetles or Collops spp. are present damage is unlikely to occur. The data were taken in cotton grown in southwestern Oklahoma.