Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Pest Manag Sci. 2021 May;77(5):2358-2366. doi: 10.1002/ps.6262. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Modern pest control management systems are based on the support of naturally occurring arthropod predators, as it has been shown that such predators offer an important ecosystem service. However, most naturally occurring arthropod predators are generalists (euryphagous). Their role in the biological control of specific pests has been recognized but remains poorly studied. Here, we focused on the naturally occurring arthropod predators of psyllids - the main insect pest of pear trees. We investigated the abundance of psyllids and all of their potential enemies in an abandoned pear orchard on a weekly basis from early spring to early summer. In addition, employing polymerase chain reaction diagnostics and specific primers, we investigated the predation rate on psyllids in all predators collected.
We found four predatory groups: spiders were the most abundant (60%, N = 756), followed by coccinellid beetles, anthocorid bugs and cantharid beetles. Anthocorids and spiders had the highest predation rates among the predatory groups. Among spiders, >50% of foliage-dwelling spiders (belonging to the genera Philodromus and Clubiona; N = 206) were positive for psyllids and showed a numerical response to the abundance of psyllids.
We conclude that foliage-dwelling spiders are, of the four groups, the most important natural enemies of psyllids on pear trees during spring in Central Europe, as they outnumber specialized Anthocoris bugs. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
现代害虫管理系统基于对自然发生的节肢动物捕食者的支持，因为已经表明这些捕食者提供了重要的生态系统服务。然而，大多数自然发生的节肢动物捕食者都是广食性的（杂食性）。它们在特定害虫的生物防治中的作用已得到认可，但仍研究不足。在这里，我们专注于梨树上主要虫害——梨木虱的自然发生的节肢动物捕食者。我们从早春到初夏每周对一个废弃的梨园中的梨木虱及其所有潜在的敌人的丰度进行调查。此外，我们采用聚合酶链反应诊断和特定引物，调查了从所有收集的捕食者中对梨木虱的捕食率。
我们发现了四个捕食性群体：蜘蛛的丰度最高（60%，N=756），其次是瓢虫、小花蝽和芫菁。在捕食性群体中，小花蝽和蜘蛛的捕食率最高。在蜘蛛中，超过 50%的叶栖蜘蛛（属于 Philodromus 和 Clubiona 属；N=206）对梨木虱呈阳性，并对梨木虱的丰度表现出数量响应。
我们的结论是，在中欧春季，与专门的Anthocoris 类昆虫相比，四种群体中，叶栖蜘蛛是梨树梨木虱最重要的自然天敌，因为它们的数量超过了专门的Anthocoris 类昆虫。© 2021 化学工业协会。
