Establishment of a Faba Bean Banker Plant System with Predator Orius strigicollis for the Control of Thrips Dendrothrips minowai on Tea Plants under Laboratory Conditions

Chang-Rong Zhang,Fei-Xue Ban,Xing-Yuan Zhang,Xiao-Li Shang,Jun-Rui Zhi,Shao-Lan Liu,Mei Liu,Ting-Ting Mao

doi:10.3390/insects12050397

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe banker plant system may provide an effective and economical method for long-term suppression of insect pests. We developed a non-crop banker plant system aiming to improve the control of stick tea thrips Dendrothrips minowai in tea plantations. In this system, we used the polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) as the biocontrol agent, the black bean aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) as an alternative food, and the faba bean Vicia faba L. as the banker plant to support the predator in controlling pest thrips. Laboratory tests revealed that the control efficacy of the banker plant system was higher than that of directly releasing O. strigicollis. These results indicate that this banker plant system may be used in the field to provide a more effective and economical way to control pest thrips in tea plantations compared with the direct release of O. strigicollis.The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the black bean aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as an alternative prey and the faba bean Vicia faba as the banker plant to support the predator in targeting the pest. The fitness of A. fabae on tea plants and faba bean was evaluated to determine its host specificity. Moreover, the control efficacy of the banker plant system on D. minowai on tea plants was tested in the laboratory and compared with that of direct release of O. strigicollis. The experiments showed that faba bean was an excellent non-crop host for A. fabae because, while the aphid population increased quickly on faba bean, it could only survive for up to 9 days on tea plants. Compared with direct release of O. strigicollis, lower densities of pest were observed when introducing the banker plant system. Our results indicate that this banker plant system has the potential to be implemented in the field to improve the control of the pest thrips.

Highlights

Tea is a traditional Chinese beverage, and the cultivated area of tea plant Camellia sinensis (L.) O
15, respectively; by contrast, the number of A. fabae reared on faba bean increased steadily after the initial release of five adults and of A. fabae reared on faba increased steadily after results the initial release of five adults and reached about
An O. strigicollis‐based banker plant the established system, faba bean is a non-crop host plant for A. fabae, which serves as alternative prey to support the beneficial insect O. strigicollis

Summary

Introduction

Tea is a traditional Chinese beverage, and the cultivated area of tea plant Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze (Theaceae) in China reached 45.75 ha in 2020. Tea plants are prone to infestations of pests and diseases, which lead to losses in harvest yield and quality. The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is one of the main pests that causes serious damage in tea plantations. This species is mainly distributed in south and southwest China, especially Guizhou Province [1,2].

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