Suppression effect of intercropping with barley on Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in onion fields

Predacious Natural Enemies Associated With Suppression of Onion Thrips, Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in Intercropped Onion-Barley Agroecosystems

“…1). We used a dry pitfall trap to compare the data with those of a previous study in an onion-barley system (Sekine et al 2021). The pitfall trap consisted of a plastic cup with a caliber of 85 mm and a depth of 100 mm (420 ml) with a 0.4 mm mesh net attached to the bottom to drain rainwater.…”

“…Zabrini and Harpalini are categorized as herbivorous groups (Hengeveld 1980a,b, Kotze et al 2011). Carnivorous ground beetles (Hengeveld 1980b, Forsythe 1991, Haselsteiner et al 2014, Baulechner et al 2020, Sekine et al 2021) were categorized into either small (less than 10 mm) or large (>10 mm) body size groups. Bembidini, Odacanthini, and Tachyini were placed in the small carnivorous group, and Carabini, Chlaeniini, Cicindelini, Licinini, Platynini, Pterostichini, Scaritini, and Sphodrini were categorized as large carnivores.…”

“…Intercropping barley with onion, Allium cepa L. (Asparagales: Amaryllidaceae), might be an effective method to diversify the crop habitat and, consequently, to control onion thrips, Thrips tabaci L. (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) because it might compensate for the poor vegetative cover of onion (Alyokhin et al 2020). Recently, Sekine et al (2021) reported that intercropping barley in onion fields resulted in a significant suppression of onion thrips. Onion thrips are often considered the most damaging pests of onions (Herron et al 2008, Diaz-Montano et al 2011, Gill et al 2015).…”

“…Consequently, alternative control methods to insecticides are required to manage them (Woldemelak 2020). Several studies have reported that intercropping of barley with an allium crop increased natural enemies, such as phytoseiid mites, predatory hemipteran bugs (e.g., Geocoris spp., Geocoridae), ground-dwelling spiders (e.g., Lycosidae and Linyphiidae), and ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), which might control onion thrips (Tsuchida et al 2015, Doi et al 2016, Oida et al 2017, Sekine et al 2021). The barley intercropping strategy clearly has considerable potential and might provide a more stable strategy to control thrips, while reducing insecticide use.…”

Spatial distribution of Thrips tabaci Lindeman on rabi onion in north western Indian Himalayan regions

“…India ranks first in onion production followed by China and accounts for about 25.57 per cent of the world's onion production (FAO, 2020). Onion is considered as the most preferred host crop of Thrips tabaci Lindeman globally (Montano et al, 2011;Gill et al, 2015;Pal et al, 2019;Ain et al, 2021;Shiberu, 2022) and is one of the limiting factors posing serious threat to onion production in all the onion growing regions of the country (Sekine et al, 2021). Being polyphagous in nature, it is known to feed on around 391 plant species belonging to 64 different families including Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae and Poaceae (Loredo & Fail, 2022).…”