Effects of plants and supplemental prey on establishment of Dicyphus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae)
Abstract
Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an omnivorous natural enemy used to control insect pests in greenhouse structures. The establishment and population development of predators in a banker plant system must be understood prior to their deployment in a pest management program. Banker plants are non-crop plants that are infested with a supplemental food source, which provides a suitable environment for predators to establish their population. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.; Scrophulariaceae) as banker plants and Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs as supplemental food on the development of D. hesperus in a tomato greenhouse production system. The nymphal development duration did not differ between mullein (22.5 d) and tomato (24.5 d) with E. kuehniella eggs but was significantly longer on mullein (25.8 d) without E. kuehniella eggs, whereas nymphs did not complete their life cycle on tomato without E. kuehniella eggs. Adult longevity and percentage survival to adulthood was 30.4 d and 91.9% on mullein with E. kuehniella eggs, and 26.9 d and 87.5% on tomato with E. kuehniella eggs, but were much reduced on mullein without E. kuehniella eggs (22.44 d and 75%). The population growth of the predator varied in response to host plant and presence of supplemental food source. In greenhouse experiments, the population of D. hesperus showed a greater increase on tomato provided with E. kuehniella eggs as a supplement food source than on mullein with supplemental food. We conclude that there was no benefit in our experiments to using mullein as a banker plant rather than using the commercial crop, tomato, supplemented with E. kuehniella eggs.
Key Words: predator; conservation biological control; banker plants; Ephestia kuehniella
Resumen
Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) es un enemigo natural omnívoro utilizado para controlar las plagas de insectos en los invernaderos. El establecimiento y el desarrollo de la población de depredadores en un sistema de plantas-banco deben entenderse antes de su despliegue en un programa de manejo de plagas. Las plantas-banco son plantas no cultivadas que están infestadas con una fuente de alimento suplementaria, que proporciona un ambiente adecuado para que los depredadores establezcan su población. El objetivo de esta investigación fue investigar el efecto de gordolobo (Verbascum thapsus L.; Scrophulariaceae) como plantas-banco y huevos de Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) como alimento suplementario sobre el desarrollo de D. hesperus en un sistema de producción de invernadero de tomate. La duración del desarrollo de la ninfa no difirió entre gordolobo (22.5 d) y tomate (24.5 d) con huevos de E. kuehniella, pero fue significativamente mayor en gordolobo (25.8 d) sin huevos de E. kuehniella, mientras que las ninfas no completaron su ciclo de vida en tomate sin huevos de E. kuehniella. La longevidad de los adultos y el porcentaje de sobrevivencia hasta la edad adulta fue de 30.4 d y 91.9% en gordolobo con huevos de E. kuehniella, y 26.9 d y 87.5% en tomate con huevos de E. kuehniella, pero se redujeron mucho más en gordolobo sin huevos de E. kuehniella (22.44 d y 75%). El crecimiento de la población del depredador varió en respuesta a la planta hospedera y la presencia de una fuente de alimento suplementario. En experimentos en el invernadero, la población de D. hesperus mostró un mayor aumento en el tomate provisto con huevos de E. kuehniella como fuente de alimento suplementario que en el gordolobo con alimento suplementario. Llegamos a la conclusión de que no hubo ningún beneficio en nuestros experimentos al usar el gordolobo como una planta banco en lugar de usar el cultivo comercial, tomate, suplementado con huevos de E. kuehniella.
Palabras Clave: depredador; control biológico de conservación; plantas-banco; Ephestia kuehniella
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