Orchard Management Effects on the Arthropod Community on Peach with Comparison to Apple

Abstract

One hundred sixty-two species were recorded as part of the arthropod community associated with peach in eastern West Virginia. The community was composed of 33% phytophages, 35% insectivores, 14% scavengers, and 18% tourists. Diversity of the anthropod community was correlated inversely with intensity of orchard management. Comparing the phytophagous community on apple (from an earlier study) with that on peach, Lepidoptera comprised 49% on apple and only 31% on peach; Hemiptera comprised 9% on apple and 19% on peach. Diversity of the phytophagous arthropod community was significantly less in peach than in apple orchards, but was more similar in commercially-managed orchards than in unmanaged orchards. It is concluded that in commercially-managed peach and apple orchards insecticide use is the dominant factor controlling community structure, whereas, in unmanaged orchards the communities in peach and apple evolve into distinctly different communities. The presence of cyanogenic glycosides in peach, extrafloral nectaries on peach, and the relatively smaller species pool available to colonize peach are considered major factors for the difference in arthropod community structure in peach and apple.