Abstract
The predatory bug Orius sauteri (Poppius) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is an important biological control agent in Asia that is often released on field crops and in greenhouses to control pests on vegetable and ornamental plants. This study compared the developmental and reproductive performance of O. sauteri on monotypic diets of four aphid species, western flower thrips, and two-spotted spider mite. Thrips emerged as the optimal prey type, consistent with findings for many other Orius spp. A diet of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) yielded the fastest development, largest adult body size, shortest pre-oviposition period, and highest fecundity and longevity. Tetranychus urticae (Koch) was the next most suitable prey by most performance measures. Among aphids, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) was the most suitable and Aphis gossypii Glover the least suitable, with Aphis craccivora Koch and Megoura japonica (Matsumura) intermediate. Female O. sauteri were larger than males and female body mass varied more with prey type than did that of males. Despite the variation in performance among prey, all prey species yielded equally good juvenile survival and none would be expected to negatively impact the numerical response of O. sauteri in biological control applications where these arthropods form part of the prey complex.
Highlights
Flower bugs in the genus Orius (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) are efficient predators of numerous arthropod pests and are widely reared for release in augmentation biological control programs in various agricultural and horticultural settings (Glenister, 1998; Paulitz, 2001; Arnó et al, 2008; Bosco et al, 2008; Chow et al, 2010; Wong & Frank, 2012)
Prey type affected the mean duration of O. sauteri nymphal development (F = 17.20; df = 5,24; P < 0.001; Fig. 1)
Development was slowest on A. gossypii, followed by M. japonica and A. craccivora, and fastest on F. occidentalis, followed by T. urtica and M. persicae, the latter yielding similar values
Summary
Flower bugs in the genus Orius (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) are efficient predators of numerous arthropod pests and are widely reared for release in augmentation biological control programs in various agricultural and horticultural settings (Glenister, 1998; Paulitz, 2001; Arnó et al, 2008; Bosco et al, 2008; Chow et al, 2010; Wong & Frank, 2012). Cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, and peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer, have all been recorded as prey of Orius insidiosus (Say) (Bush et al, 1993; Armer et al, 1998; Rutledge & O’Neil, 2005). Both Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) and A. gossypii are suitable prey for Orius laevigatus (Fieber) and Orius majusculus (Reuter) (Alvarado et al, 1997). In laboratory feeding trials in Iran, O. minutus showed prey perference for, and better performance on, T. urticae compared to Thrips tabaci (Lindeman) (Fathi & Nouri-Ganbalani, 2009)
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