Busuulwa Allan, Revynthi Alexandra M, Liburd Oscar E, Lahiri Sriyanka
Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Wimauma, FL 33598, USA.
Tropical Research and Education Center, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Homestead, FL 33031, USA.
Insects. 2024 Oct 8;15(10):776. doi: 10.3390/insects15100776.
Since 2015, Hood has emerged as the main pest of strawberries in Florida. Given the limited management options, there is a recognized need to expand on the management strategies for this pest. Therefore, we explored the possibility of using banker plants to recruit naturally occurring predators of thrips into strawberry fields to suppress . The study began in the 2021-2022 strawberry season where five banker plants were screened to determine which ones could consistently attract thrips predators by flowering throughout the strawberry season. L. (ornamental pepper) and L. (sweet alyssum) were selected for further evaluation. In the 2022-2023 strawberry season, using a randomized complete block design we assessed the capability of these banker plants to attract thrips predators into the strawberry field. In addition, we examined how the banker plant distance from the strawberry plants influenced the pest suppression. Our results showed that strawberries located within 3.7 m of ornamental pepper plants had less leaf damage from compared with those farther away, which may result from the repellent effect of the ornamental peppers. Additionally, spp. and spp. were identified as the main thrips predators in the system, although in relatively low numbers. Therefore, these results highlight the potential of incorporating ornamental pepper as a banker plant in strawberry production. Additional applications of this research are explored below.
自2015年以来，胡德蓟马已成为佛罗里达州草莓的主要害虫。鉴于管理选择有限，人们认识到有必要扩展针对这种害虫的管理策略。因此，我们探索了利用诱集植物吸引蓟马的自然天敌进入草莓田以进行抑制的可能性。该研究始于2021 - 2022年草莓季，筛选了五种诱集植物，以确定哪些能够在整个草莓季持续开花从而吸引蓟马天敌。辣椒（观赏椒）和香雪球被选中作进一步评估。在2022 - 2023年草莓季，我们采用随机完全区组设计，评估了这些诱集植物将蓟马天敌吸引到草莓田的能力。此外，我们研究了诱集植物与草莓植株的距离如何影响害虫抑制效果。我们的结果表明，与距离较远的草莓相比，距离观赏椒植株3.7米以内的草莓叶片受胡德蓟马的损害较小，这可能是观赏椒的驱避作用所致。此外，小花蝽属和蓟马通缘蝽属被确定为该系统中的主要蓟马天敌，尽管数量相对较少。因此，这些结果凸显了在草莓生产中引入观赏椒作为诱集植物的潜力。下文将探讨本研究的其他应用。
