Abstract
Ecological engineering for pest management involves the identification of optimal forms of botanical diversity to incorporate into a farming system to suppress pests, by promoting their natural enemies. Whilst this approach has been extensively researched in many temperate crop systems, much less has been done for rice. This paper reports the influence of various plant species on the performance of a key natural enemy of rice planthopper pests, the predatory mirid bug, Cyrtorhinus lividipennis. Survival of adult males and females was increased by the presence of flowering Tagetes erecta, Trida procumbens, Emilia sonchifolia (Compositae), and Sesamum indicum (Pedaliaceae) compared with water or nil controls. All flower treatments resulted in increased consumption of brown plant hopper, Nilaparvata lugens, and for female C. lividipennis, S. indicum was the most favorable. A separate study with a wider range of plant species and varying densities of prey eggs showed that S. indicum most strongly promoted predation by C. lividipennis. Reflecting this, S. indicum gave a relatively high rate of prey search and low prey handling time. On this basis, S. indicum was selected for more detailed studies to check if its potential incorporation into the farming system would not inadvertently benefit Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and Marasmia patnalis, serious Lepidoptera pests of rice. Adult longevity and fecundity of both pests was comparable for S. indicum and water treatments and significantly lower than the honey solution treatment. Findings indicate that S. indicumis well suited for use as an ecological engineering plant in the margins of rice crops. Sesame indicum can be a valuable crop as well as providing benefits to C. lividipennis whilst denying benefit to key pests.
Highlights
Ecological engineering for pest management involves experimentation to identify from among a number of agronomically feasible options, the optimal form of diversity for incorporation into a farming system to suppress pests, often by promoting their natural enemies
Whilst some forms of diversity manipulation can have a direct suppressive effect on pest populations, most strategies involve conserving natural enemies and improving their performance by providing resources including shelter [7] and, most importantly, the plant derived foods of pollen and nectar [8]. These foods can have a great influence on natural enemy longevity, fecundity and behaviour and lead to an impact on pest numbers [9,10,11,12]
Later experiments examined the effects of S. indicum only on lepidopteran pests on the basis that this plant species appeared most strongly beneficial to C. lividipennis
Summary
Ecological engineering for pest management involves experimentation to identify from among a number of agronomically feasible options, the optimal form of diversity for incorporation into a farming system to suppress pests, often by promoting their natural enemies. Whilst some forms of diversity manipulation can have a direct suppressive effect on pest populations, most strategies involve conserving natural enemies and improving their performance by providing resources including shelter [7] and, most importantly, the plant derived foods of pollen and nectar [8]. These foods can have a great influence on natural enemy longevity, fecundity and behaviour and lead to an impact on pest numbers [9,10,11,12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
