Abstract
• Dicyphus bolivari and D. errans are predators augmented in greenhouses for pest control. • Odors of uninfested tomato, cucumber, and pepper did not attract either predator. • Marigold plants did not result attractive for the two predators even if they are infested by whiteflies. • However, tomato plants with predator eggs became attractive to that predator. • Tomato was preferred to cucumber or sweet pepper for oviposition.
Highlights
Augmentative biological control with parasitoids and predators has been practiced for decades to control the main pests in greenhouse crops (VanLenteren and Woets, 1988)
To test D. bolivari and D. errans, for oviposition preferences among host plants, we provided bugs with free-flight, pairwise choices of the four plants tested in olfactometer bioassays
None of the three crop plants tested in the Y-tube olfactometer were themselves more attractive to the bug species than clean air
Summary
Augmentative biological control with parasitoids and predators has been practiced for decades to control the main pests in greenhouse crops (VanLenteren and Woets, 1988). Several species of Miridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) have received special attention for their capacity to control the key pests in various vegetable crops (Castañé et al, 2004; Perdikis et al, 2008; Ingegno et al, 2013). These mirids are polyphagous and are characterized by their facultative omnivory (Alomar and Albajes, 1996; Ingegno et al, 2011), that is, their capacity to feed on both prey and plant resources (Coll and Guershon, 2002; Albajes and Alomar, 2008). The ability of mirids to feed facultatively on plants may allow them to survive on the crop when prey is scarce or absent, establish themselves early in the season, and prevent pests from reaching damaging densities (Albajes and Alomar, 2008), their use may lead to some crop plant damage, (Castañé et al, 2011; Calvo et al, 2012b).
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