ABSTRACT To rationally utilise and protect the natural enemies of juice-sucking pests in tea gardens, which have been exhibiting an upward trend in China's tea areas, significantly impacting tea production and quality, this study conducted grey correlation analysis, competition coefficient analysis, and competition intensity index analysis on the peak-day populations of juice-sucking pests and their nine primary natural enemies to compare the competitiveness among these natural enemies and identify dominant species for effective juice-sucking pest control. The grey correlation analysis indicated that the three natural enemies most closely related to juice-sucking pests were Misumenops tricuspidatus(X2), Propylea japonica(X8) and Plexippus paykulli(X6). The new multiple range test (MRT) analysis of competition coefficients revealed that the three natural enemies with the highest competition coefficients were P. paykulli(X6), Clubiona reichlini(X4) and Xysticus ephippiatus(X1). Furthermore, according to the new MRT analysis of competition intensity indices, the natural enemies exhibiting the highest competition intensity indices were C. reichlini(X4), P. paykulli(X6) and Oxyopes sertatus(X5). Based on the comprehensive analysis above, among the nine major natural enemies, P. paykulli(X6) and C. reichlini(X4) were tied for the first place in terms of competitiveness, followed by X. ephippiatus (X1). Additionally, Clubiona japonicola(X3) also demonstrated significant competitiveness and was worthy of mention. The stronger the competitiveness, the stronger the predation ability, and thus the stronger the pest control capability. Our study provided a scientific basis for selecting natural enemies of dominant species with strong interspecific competitiveness, so as to facilitate more efficient biological control of juice-sucking pests.
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