Use of Flowering Plants to Enhance Parasitism and Predation Rates on Two Squash Bug Species and (Hemiptera: Coreidae).

A two-year study evaluated the effect of a flowering border of buckwheat Moench on rates of egg parasitism, egg predation and adult parasitism on two squash bug species, (DeGeer) and Say, by comparing rates in squash fields with and without a flowering border. Furthermore, we evaluated whether there was an edge effect by comparing parasitism and predation rates in plots located in the corner of a squash field with plots located in the center of a squash field for fields with and without a flowering border. The egg parasitism rates were not affected by either treatment (flowering border or control) or plot location (edge or center). egg masses only accounted for 4.3% of the total egg masses collected. The egg parasitism rates increased gradually throughout the season, peaking in the last week of August in 2017 at 45% for egg masses. The most common egg parasitoid recovered was (Ashmead) followed by (Ashmead). Adult parasitism was not affected by treatment, but adult parasitism rates were higher in plots located on the edge of squash fields compared with plots located in the center of squash fields in 2016. Since adult parasitoid, (Fabricius) flies were observed visiting buckwheat flowers, future studies could explore the possibility that the flowering buckwheat may have a more impact on adult parasitism if there was a greater distance between fields with and without a flowering border.