Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil.
Bull Entomol Res. 2022 Jun;112(3):389-398. doi: 10.1017/S0007485321000973. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
Non-crop plant diversity plays a fundamental role in the conservation of predatory mite (PM) and can be proposed as a banker plant system (BPS). BPSs provide plants that host natural enemies in greenhouses or field crops and may improve the efficiency of biological control. The aim of this study was to investigate if a diverse plant composition could be a suitable BPS for PMs in strawberry crops. A plant inventory characterized 22 species of non-crop plants harboring PMs. The most abundant PMs, in decreasing order, were Neoseiulus californicus, Neoseiulus anonymus, Euseius citrifolius, and Euseius concordis. PMs were randomly distributed among plants. We also found specific associations of Phytoseiidae species and phytophagous or generalist mites on plants. Due to this, four species were deemed suitable as banker plants: Capsicum sp., Leonurus sibiricus, Solanum americanum, and Urochloa mutica. Moreover, these plants combined a high PMs density and a low occurrence or absence of pest-mites. This study suggests shifting the traditional view that BPSs are composed of a limited number of species to use plant assemblages. This contributes to both conservation and augmentative biological control.
非作物植物多样性在捕食螨（PM）的保护中起着重要作用，可以被提议作为一种“储备植物系统（BPS）”。BPS 为温室或大田作物中的天敌提供宿主植物，可能提高生物防治的效率。本研究旨在调查多样化的植物组成是否可以成为草莓作物中 PM 的合适 BPS。植物清单描述了 22 种含有 PM 的非作物植物。最丰富的 PM 依次为加州新小绥螨、隐斑新小绥螨、智利小植绥螨和和谐新小绥螨。PM 在植物间随机分布。我们还发现了植绥螨科物种与植食性或广食性螨在植物上的特定关联。因此，有 4 种植物被认为是合适的储备植物：辣椒、益母草、美洲菀和五节芒。此外，这些植物具有较高的 PM 密度，且虫害螨的发生或不存在的情况较低。本研究建议改变传统观点，即 BPS 由有限数量的物种组成，而应利用植物组合。这有助于保护和增强生物防治。
