The effect of banker plants and pre-plant release on the establishment and pest control of Macrolophus pygmaeus in tomato greenhouses

Dicyphine mirids are important biological control agents (BCAs) in horticultural crops. Dicyphus cerastii Wagner can be found in protected tomato crops in Portugal, and has been observed feeding on several tomato pests. However, the predation capacity of this species is poorly studied. In order to investigate the predation capacity of D. cerastii, and how it is affected by prey size and mobility, we evaluated the functional response (FR) and predation rate of female predators on different densities of four prey species: Myzus persicae 1st instar nymphs (large mobile prey), Bemisia tabaci 4th instar nymphs, Ephestia kuehniella eggs (large immobile prey) and Tuta absoluta eggs (small immobile prey). Experiments were performed on tomato leaflets in Petri dish arenas for 24 h. Dicyphus cerastii exhibited type II FR for all prey tested. The predator effectively preyed upon all prey, consuming an average of 88.8 B. tabaci nymphs, 134.4 E. kuehniella eggs, 37.3 M. persicae nymphs and 172.3 T. absoluta eggs. Differences in the FR parameters, attack rate and handling time, suggested that prey size and mobility affected predation capacity. Considering the very high predation rates found for all prey species, D. cerastii proved to be an interesting candidate BCA for tomato crops.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Response and Predation Rate of Dicyphus cerastii Wagner (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Abraços-Duarte

Ramos

Valente

et al. 2021

“…According to a previous study, a long pre-plant release period can significantly increase the abundance of predator Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae) and its efficiency in controlling Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) on tomato [ 33 ]. In this study, an interval of 10 days that was similar to the pre-plant release period was used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment of a Faba Bean Banker Plant System with Predator Orius strigicollis for the Control of Thrips Dendrothrips minowai on Tea Plants under Laboratory Conditions

Zhang

Liu

Ban

et al. 2021

The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the black bean aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as an alternative prey and the faba bean Vicia faba as the banker plant to support the predator in targeting the pest. The fitness of A. fabae on tea plants and faba bean was evaluated to determine its host specificity. Moreover, the control efficacy of the banker plant system on D. minowai on tea plants was tested in the laboratory and compared with that of direct release of O. strigicollis. The experiments showed that faba bean was an excellent non-crop host for A. fabae because, while the aphid population increased quickly on faba bean, it could only survive for up to 9 days on tea plants. Compared with direct release of O. strigicollis, lower densities of pest were observed when introducing the banker plant system. Our results indicate that this banker plant system has the potential to be implemented in the field to improve the control of the pest thrips.

“…Moreover, maintaining the populations of BCAs within an agroecosystem can limit secondary outbreaks of pest populations [26]. Banker plant systems (Vicia faba-Aphis craccivora-C. pallens) that support C. pallens have been developed for pest biological control in commercial greenhouses (Li S, unpublished data), whereas the founder population of natural enemies in banker plant systems is usually mass-reared on factitious hosts [27,28]. Thus, a better understanding of the population fitness and pest control performance of mass-reared BCAs is crucial for developing IPM strategies [1,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fitness of Mass Rearing Food on the Establishment of Chrysopa pallens in a Banker Plant System under Fluctuating Temperature Conditions

Wang

Yang

et al. 2021

Banker plant systems can be used to sustain a reproducing population of biological control agents (BCAs) within a crop, thus providing long-term pest suppression. The founder population of natural enemies in banker plant systems is usually mass-reared on factitious hosts. Thus, a better understanding of the population fitness and pest control performance of mass-reared BCAs in the field is crucial when developing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. In this study, we determined the fitness of the generalist predator, Chrysopa pallens (Hemiptera: Chrysopidae) ever cultured on different food sources (i.e., mass rearing food, Corcyra cephalonica eggs, and aphid food, Megoura japonica) preying on Aphis craccivora in a banker plant system in a greenhouse based on Chi’s age-stage, two-sex life table analysis method. The life tables and predation rate parameters of C. pallens were not significantly different between both treatments under fluctuating temperature conditions. Corcyracephalonica eggs did not significantly weaken the performances of C. pallens in a Vicia faba–A. craccivora banker plant system compared to aphids. In conclusion, C. cephalonica eggs can be used for the mass production of C. pallens as the founder population in a banker plant system. Moreover, linking the life table data with the predation rate is an effective strategy for evaluating mass rearing programs in establishing banker plant systems.