BioControl (2021) 66, 659-671
Ryohei Nakano and Norihide Hinomoto (2021)
Tracking the movement of Nesidiocoris tenuis among banker plants and crops in a tomato greenhouse by DNA markers of host plants
BioControl 66 (5), 659-671
Abstract: The zoophytophagous predator, Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae), is an important biological control agent. To maintain this insect, several non-crop host plants are used as banker plants in greenhouse crop systems. To optimize the efficiency of the predator-banker plant interaction, it is necessary to investigate how individual predators move between banker plants and crops. However, the movement is difficult to quantify under field conditions. Therefore, we investigated the movement of N. tenuis between tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L., Solanales: Solanaceae) and three banker plants (Cleome hassleriana Chod., Brassicales: Cleomaceae; Sesamum indicum L., Lamiales: Pedaliaceae; and Verbena × hybrida Voss, Lamiales: Verbenaceae) in a greenhouse by conducting PCR using plant-species-specific primers. Laboratory analysis results showed that our molecular method could detect N. tenuis activity within a relatively short time (< 24 h). In addition, N. tenuis predation on a pest species was unlikely to result in false detection of plant DNA in the pest (suggesting that N. tenuis had been on the plants). Multiple plant species were detected in adult insects collected from the greenhouse plants, indicating that N. tenuis frequently moved across the mentioned plant species. The movement patterns of N. tenuis between plant species varied substantially based on the plant species from which they were collected, which suggested each of the plant species had different functions for N. tenuis. Our findings revealed that planting multiple host plants would stabilize the N. tenuis population in biological control programs.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Norihide Hinomoto
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
population dynamics/epizootiology
Pest and/or beneficial records:
| Beneficial | Pest/Disease/Weed | Crop/Product | Country | Quarant.
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nesidiocoris tenuis (predator) | Japan |
