Wildflower plantings enhance the abundance of natural enemies and their services in adjacent blueberry fields

Wildflower plantings can support local abundance of natural enemies, but their influence on biological control of pests in adjacent crop fields is less well documented. To test whether biological control is enhanced by these plantings, we established native, perennial wildflowers in areas adjacent to highbush blueberry fields. Once wildflowers were established we found greater abundance of natural enemies in the fields adjacent to wildflower plantings compared with those adjacent to unenhanced control field perimeters. Predaceous arthropods, including spiders, hoverflies, and lady beetles, were among the most common natural enemies observed and collected in the blueberry fields. Using corn earworm eggs, Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), as sentinel prey, we found a similar pattern of biological control, with higher biological control services index values in fields adjacent to the wildflower plantings than in the unenhanced control fields. Our results provide evidence for the ability of wildflower plantings to support natural enemy populations in agricultural landscapes, and to potentially provide local enhancement of biological control in adjacent crops.     

Vegetation increases the abundance of natural enemies in vineyards

Non-crop areas can increase the abundance of natural invertebrate enemies on farmland and assist in invertebrate pest control, but the relative benefits of different types of vegetation are often unclear. Here, we investigated abundance of natural enemies in vineyards with edges consisting of different types of vegetation: remnant native forests, wooded margins planted after establishment of the crop (hereafter called shelterbelts), or pasture. Invertebrates were sampled four times using canopy sticky traps and ground level pitfall traps, replicated across two seasons at one of the sites. The distribution and abundance of natural enemies in relation to edges with adjacent vegetation or pasture were mapped by distance indices (SADIE) and compared with ANOVAs. There was a positive influence of adjacent wooded vegetation on staphylinids, predatory thrips, predatory mites, spiders, ladybird beetles and hymenopteran parasitoids including Trichogramma egg parasitoids in the canopy and/or at ground level, although there were significant differences among sites and groups of organisms. In contrast, pasture edges had no effect or a negative effect on numbers of natural enemies in vineyards. To directly assess potential beneficial effects of adjacent vegetation, predation and parasitism of eggs of a vineyard insect pest, Epiphyas postvittana Walker (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), was measured. Parasitism by Trichogramma was higher adjacent to remnant vegetation while predation was not affected. These results indicate that the abundance and distribution of vineyard natural enemies and parasitism of pest moth eggs is increased adjacent to edges with wooded vegetation, leading to beneficial effects for pest control. The conservation of remnant woodland and planting of shelterbelts around vineyards may therefore have direct economic benefits in terms of pest control, whereas non-crop pasture may not produce such benefits.     

Methyl salicylate attracts natural enemies and reduces populations of soybean aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in soybean agroecosystems

Methyl salicylate, an herbivore-induced plant volatile, has been shown to attract natural enemies and affect herbivore behavior. In this study, methyl salicylate was examined for its attractiveness to natural enemies of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and for its direct effects on soybean aphid population growth rates. Methyl salicylate lures were deployed in plots within organic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] fields. Sticky card traps adjacent to and 1.5 m from the lure measured the relative abundance of natural enemies, and soybean aphid populations were monitored within treated and untreated plots. In addition, exclusion cage studies were conducted to determine methyl salicylate's effect on soybean aphid population growth rates in the absence of natural enemies. Significantly greater numbers of syrphid flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) were caught on traps adjacent to the methyl salicylate lure, but no differences in abundance were found at traps 1.5 m from the lure. Furthermore, abundance of soybean aphids was significantly lower in methyl salicylate-treated plots. In exclusion cage studies, soybean aphid numbers were significantly reduced on treated soybean plants when all plants were open to natural enemies. When plants were caged, however, soybean aphid numbers and population growth rates did not differ between treated and untreated plants suggesting no effect of methyl salicylate on soybean aphid reproduction and implicating the role of natural enemies in depressing aphid populations. Although aphid populations were reduced locally around methyl salicylate lures, larger scale studies are needed to assess the technology at the whole-field scale.     

Pest management through tropical tree conservation

Tropical trees can provide various ecological services to adjacent agricultural environments, including maintaining and amplifying the numbers of beneficial insects. In Mexico, certain tree species harbor a diverse guild of hymenopteran parasitoids that attack pest fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and are at the same time sources of valuable hardwood timber. Indigenous trees and their associated fauna are slowly disappearing due to forest clearance and the expansion of crop monocultures. Here we explore the relationship among pest and non-pest fruit flies, their fruit-hosts and parasitoids in the context of mango orchards and surrounding patches of uncultivated vegetation and propose a novel mechanism to use these associations in favor of conservation purposes and pest management. Trees of conservation biological control interest are classified as: (1) parasitoid multiplier plants, species that serve as alternate hosts for key fruit fly pests when their commercial hosts are not available, but in which they are unusually vulnerable to parasitism; (2) parasitoid reservoir plants, native or introduced trees in whose fruits non-pest fruit flies serve as hosts to generalist parasitoids that are able to attack pest tephritids in other species of commercially grown fruit; and (3) pest-based parasitoid reservoir plants, native or introduced species that are not economically important locally, but which harbor fruit flies that would be pests in other circumstances and that serve as hosts for parasitoids of the important pests in the vicinity. Protection, multiplication and dissemination of such tree species has the potential to increase the number of naturally produced fruit fly parasitoids and could assist in the management of tephritid pests in areas where destruction of forests has impoverished the historical sources of fruit fly natural enemies. Tropical forest conservation may help resource-poor farmers reduce crop losses, increase biodiversity within fruit-growing regions and conserve native forests for both conservation purposes and commercial use of native hardwoods.     

Cover crop mulches influence biological control of the imported cabbageworm (Pieris rapae L., Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in cabbage

Increasing structural complexity within crop fields can provide a way to manipulate pest abundance and biological control in agroecosystems. Here, we examine the effect of cover crop mulches in cabbage on the structure and function of an insect food web, investigating the role of cover crop species, structure, and volatile cues on important interactions. We focused on the imported cabbageworm (Pieris rapae L., Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and three of its natural enemies, the spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris (Say), Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens (Guerin), Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and the parasitoid, Cotesia rubecula Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). We measured the abundance of these insects in a field experiment and conducted a natural enemy exclusion cage study to determine the level of biological control of the imported cabbageworm in the field. Our field experiments indicated that cover crop species, but not structure, influenced insect abundance, with significantly more imported cabbageworm and C. rubecula in rye cover crop mulch plots compared to vetch mulch or bare soil plots. In the Y-tube assays we found some evidence that the increased parasitoid abundance did not result in increased parasitism because of interference of the mulch with short-range host finding odor cues. The natural abundance of the two predators was not different among our field plots with different cover crop treatments. Mortality and parasitism of sentinel imported cabbageworm larvae was not different in field cages among the different cover crop mulch treatments, but there was a significant difference among cage types indicating that small natural enemies play an important role in the biological control of this cabbage pest.     

太阳能灭虫器对吐鲁番葡萄产区害虫的诱捕效果及对天敌安全性评价

本文研究了FWS-DBL-1新型太阳能灭虫器在320～580、360、400、460和520 nm 5种不同波长下对吐鲁番葡萄产区害虫的诱捕效果及对天敌安全性。结果表明:在5种波长下,灭虫器诱捕昆虫的种类相似,以鞘翅目、鳞翅目、半翅目、脉翅目、双翅目、直翅目和膜翅目等为主。诱捕的主要昆虫是蜉金龟Aphodius sp.、白云斑鳃金龟Polyphylla alba vicaria Semenov、额喙丽金龟Adoretus nigriforns Steven、毛喙丽金龟Adoretus hirsutus Ohaus、绣罗夜蛾Leucanitis picta Christoph和淘赏夜蛾Catocala puerpera Giorna等。其中:灭虫器在400 nm波长下的诱捕量最多,其次是320～580 nm和360 nm波长。综合分析比较:400 nm波长对鞘翅目害虫的诱捕效果最好,360 nm波长对鳞翅目和双翅目害虫的诱捕能力最强,520 nm波长对半翅目害虫的诱捕效果最好。对天敌的安全性研究表明:FWS-DBL-1太阳能灭虫器对天敌有一定的诱捕作用,益害比为1∶4～1∶5。诱捕量较多的是步甲科和草蛉科的天敌,占天敌总诱捕量的85.82%。在这5个波长中,360 nm波长下,灭虫器对天敌的诱捕作用最小,对天敌的安全性相对较高。     

稻田节肢动物群落多样性

本文运用种类丰富度(S)、均匀性(V)和申农指数(Shannon's index.H')分析稻田节肢动物群落和各亚群落多样性的空间层次差异、季节动态、以及杀虫药剂的作用.稻田节肢动物群落的多样性值较低,H'值一般在3以下,表明群落稳定性差;多样性季节变化较大.在不用农药条件下,8月底以后的H'值较高;水稻群体上部群落的S、和V'值均大于下部的对应值;杀虫药剂的应用虽提高了群落总体的H'和V'值,但对亚群落的分析表明,杀虫药剂促进害虫亚群落的H'和V'值上升,却降低了各天敌亚群落的有关值,从而扩大了害虫和天敌之间稳定性的差距,使两者的同步关系受到损害;杀虫药剂的应用还使各天敌亚群落种类数和个体数明显减少,特别是寄生天敌昆虫种类数、个体数均大幅度下降,使其难以起到控制害虫的应有作用,这又为害虫的再猖獗提供有利条件.通过分析认为,就稻田节肢动物而言,多样性仍然是群落稳定性的一个重要测定指标.     

蚜虱净对苜蓿主要害虫及天敌种群数量的影响

在甘肃省定西市九华沟系统研究了喷施蚜虱净对苜蓿主要害虫及天敌种群数量动态的影响。结果表明,施药田蚜虫和蓟马的季节平均数量极显著高于对照田,而盲蝽和瓢虫、小花蝽、蜘蛛等大多数天敌的季节平均数量则极显著低于对照田,寄生蜂与对照田没有湿著差异。喷施蚜虱净对种群数量时序动态的影响在不同害虫和天敌种类中表现不同,5月底施药后7d对照田蚜虫和蓟马的种群数量分别为施药田的4．13倍和5．2倍,此后施药田害虫的种群数量开始迅速增加,到6月底2种害虫的种群数量均与对照田无显著差异,到7月中旬以后反而显著高于对照田。施药对盲蝽种群数量时序动态的影响与蚜虫和蓟马不同,5月底施药后盲蝽的种群数量一直显著低于对照田,直到7月下旬以后,种群数量才恢复到对照田的水平。喷施蚜虱净对天敌种群数量的时序动态有极显著的影响,大多数天敌的种群数量在5月底施药后到7月底都一直显著低于对照田,直到8月上旬才恢复到对照田的水平。施用杀虫剂在防治害虫的同时杀伤大量天敌,使害虫的种群数量迅速增加,甚至造成更严重的为害。因此在菖蓿上使用对天敌杀伤力小的杀虫剂对保持天敌的自然控制能力有重要作用。     

Habitat linkages in conservation biological control: Lessons from the land–water interface

Terrestrial landscapes, including those with embedded agroecosystems, are a mosaic of cover types varying in size. Creating or maintaining habitats that support natural enemy populations to combat agricultural pests is the primary method of conservation biological control. Non-crop habitats can be managed in an attempt to maximize the exchange of natural enemies with adjacent agroecosystems with the expectation that they will suppress damaging pest outbreaks. Despite this goal, current habitat management relying on natural enemy spillover into crops has been unreliably effective at reducing pest abundance or increasing crop yield. Furthermore, the expansion and intensification of agriculture and changes in global climate patterns threaten the foundations of conservation biological control in future agroecosystems. However, the aquatic–terrestrial interface offers a natural boundary similar to the one between agroecosystems and their neighboring non-crop habitats that can provide useful insights to the challenges facing growers. Research of the exchanges between water and land suggests general biological and physical processes that govern the movement of organisms between disparate habitats. We propose that like aquatic insects moving from water to land, natural enemy dispersal from non-crop donor habitats into recipient crop patches on the landscape is a function of (1) the production of natural enemies in the source habitat which establishes the abundance of organisms that can disperse, (2) how and why mobile natural enemies disperse themselves into neighboring recipient habitats, and (3) the configuration of donor and recipient habitats on the landscape. We suggest that conservation biological control practitioners can focus on these main components of natural enemy production and dispersal to predict the effectiveness of conservation biological control measures and guide their adaptation to future global change.     

农田非作物生境调控与害虫综合治理

就害虫综合治理的研究而言,农田生态系统可以区分出作物生境和邻近作物的非作物生境。昆虫从作物生境迁移到非作物生境,与作物生境缺乏食物或受人类栽培活动干扰而引起的自然迁移、转换寄主和寻求庇护场所有关。许多研究表明,与特定作物田块相联系的植被类型和结构可影响害虫及其天敌迁居的种类、数量和时间。因此,我们可以通过改变大田周围非作物生境的植被组成及特征来调控农业生态系统中害虫与天敌的相互关系,提高天敌对害虫的控制效能。由于景观的空间格局对节肢动物的生物学特性有直接或间接的影响,所以,以景观为单元要比以同类作物的田块为单元更加适于害虫综合治理的研究和实施。在现代农业景观区域内重新引入和相嵌一些非栽培植物或廊道,可为众多有益节肢动物的繁殖、取食和避害提供多种类型的非作物栖境。     

Wild bees and natural enemies prefer similar flower species and respond to similar plant traits

Designing wildflower habitats to support beneficial insects providing pollination and pest control services is important for supporting sustainable crop production. It is often desirable to support both groups of insects, making the selection of resource plants for insect conservation programs more challenging. Moreover, the process of selecting resource plants is complicated by the array of possible options in each region, and the need to provide resources over the entire growing season. Identifying traits shared by resource plants that are attractive to both bees and natural enemies can reduce the need to evaluate new plants in each region, by providing a guide for the types of plants expected to be rewarding to these insects. Using insect visitation data collected from replicated common garden plantings of native wildflower and shrub species from the Great Lakes region of the United States, we found a high degree of correlation between the abundance of bees and natural enemies visiting native plant species. These results were used to identify a set of 15 plant species that can provide resources for these insects throughout the summer. Across all tested species, pollen quantity per flower and the week of bloom were positively correlated with some, but not all, taxonomic groupings of beneficial insects. In contrast, floral area was consistently positively associated with visitation of both natural enemies and wild bees. This trait is easy to document and can allow for efficient local testing of potential resource plants, providing a faster path to implementing insect conservation in working landscapes.     

Non-crop habitats concurrently drive crop colonization by the millet head miner and regulation by natural enemies

Non-crop habitats, depending on their composition, can enhance the abundance and diversity of natural enemies of crop pests, but also at the same time provide resources to pests, thereby reducing the effect on pest incidence and resulting yield losses. The objective of the present study was to test (1) the effect of semi-natural habitats in the landscape on crop colonization by pests and natural regulation, and (2) the relationship between natural regulation and pest incidence. The pearl millet head miner (MHM) was selected as a case study because it is a key pest of millet cultivated in traditional pesticide-free tree-crop agroforestry systems in which its control mostly relies on the action of natural enemies.A set of 24 millet fields were selected in a 20×20 km area in Senegal, from the analysis of high-resolution satellite images (Pléiades), and hypotheses on the relative abundance of semi-natural habitats (here trees and rangelands) in the agricultural landscape. Millet fields were monitored for pest infestation of panicles and pest natural regulation. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-PM) to evaluate the relationships between the abundance and diversity of semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale, crop colonization, natural pest regulation, and pest incidence.Panicle colonization by the MHM was generally high (14–92%) and increased with the abundance of trees and to a lesser extent with the rangeland area at a 1000 m-radius around millet fields. However, regulation provided by natural enemies was amplified by the abundance of trees at a local scale (250 m-radius around millet fields). This was particularly true at early crop colonization of the MHM with parasitism and direct predation on eggs and young larvae. This multi-scale effect of semi-natural habitats on crop colonization and natural regulation could explain why no clear relationship between crop colonization and pest incidence, nor natural regulation and pest incidence, was observed. Future studies on the identification of complex species-specific interactions between trees and natural enemies should provide a better understanding of the ecological processes underlying the performance of natural regulation of MHM populations.     

Entomofauna associated to horticultural crops under organic and conventional practices in Córdoba, Argentina

Farming practices and the addition of chemical synthetic substances in conventional agroecosystems are detrimental mainly to natural enemies of phytophagous insects, diminishing the natural regulation of pest insects. On the other hand, in organic agriculture, biological processes and care of the environment are favoured, hence an increase in insect biodiversity is predicted in this type of systems. In this work, abundance, richness of insects and proportion of functional groups were compared through a single quantitative sampling of insects in horticultural crop fields, three under organic and three under conventional management practices. Insect species richness, total and for guilds (phytophagous and entomophagous insects) were significantly higher in organic orchards, and also was the abundance of entomophagous insects. Richness and abundance of all insect orders (with exception of Homoptera abundance), were higher in orchards under organic management, being significative the differences for richness of Coleoptera and richness and abundance of Hymenoptera. Similar tendencies were observed in data obtained through sweep net in weeds. These results suggest that organic practices increase the diversity of species, particularly that of natural enemies.     

Cascade effects of crop species richness on the diversity of pest insects and their natural enemies

Understanding how plant species richness influences the diversity of herbivorous and predatory/parasitic arthropods is central to community ecology.We explore the effects of crop species richness on the diversity of pest insects and their natural enemies.Using data from a four-year experiment with five levels of crop species richness,we found that crop species richness significantly affected the pest species richness,but there were no significant effects on richness of the pests’natural enemies.In contrast,the species richness of pest insects significantly affected their natural enemies.These findings suggest a cascade effect where trophic interactions are strong between adjacent trophic levels,while the interactions between connected but nonadjacent trophic levels are weakened by the intermediate trophic level.High crop species richness resulted in a more stable arthropod community compared with communities in monoculture crops.Our results highlight the complicated cross-trophic interactions and the crucial role of crop diversity in the food webs of agro-ecosystems.     

Monitoring of wheat insects and their natural enemies using sticky traps in wheat

Beneficial arthropods and wheat insects were monitored using sticky traps through large-scale field in Saxony, Germany before and after insecticide applications. The tested compounds (Karate, Biscaya and NeemAzal T/S) were sprayed twice at Elongation stage (GS 32) and at the heading stage (GS 55). Monitoring was conducted for four weeks after each treatment. Cereal aphids, thrips, leafhoppers, cereal leaf beetles, cereal bugs and also many natural enemies such as predators (lady beetles, lacewings, syrphids, dance flies and spiders) and parasitoids (parasitic wasps) were surveyed. The results proved that Karate caused the highest per cent mortality to wheat insect pests. Karate also reduced natural enemy diversities. Biscaya and NeemAzal T/S is correlated with an equivalent mortality per cents to wheat insect pests and resulted in a smaller effects on natural enemies compared with Karate. Leafhoppers were less affected than Thrips and cereal bugs. Parasitoid wasps and spider were more tolerant, while lacewings and dance flies were more susceptible to insecticide effects. Finally, natural insecticides and predators and parasitoids could be highly compatible with a hygienic environment.     

Herbivore response to habitat manipulation with floral resources: a study of the cabbage root fly

Biological control of pest insects can be improved by providing natural enemies with additional food resources such as floral nectar within the production field. However, herbivores may also benefit from this practice. The aim of this 3‐year field study was to investigate if dill and buckwheat, aimed as food resources for natural enemies, could increase the densities of the cabbage root fly, Delia radicum L. (Diptera: Anthomyiidae), a severe pest on crucifers. Differences in egg density, numbers of pupae and sex ratio were compared between cabbage plots with or without flowers. Habitat manipulation by intercropping flowering plants with cabbage did not increase the overall D. radicum egg density in our 3‐year study, and there were no significant differences in egg numbers between treatments in any year. No effect on the fecundity of D. radicum was observed, most likely because of the high mobility and feeding behaviour of the female flies, combined with high abundance and diversity of other food sources around the fields during this period. Despite equal egg numbers, fewer pupae were found in plots with flowers than without in one of three studied years. This finding suggests that natural enemies attacking larvae and pupae of D. radicum were either more abundant or efficient in cabbage plots with flowers.     

Can semiochemicals attract both western flower thrips and their anthocorid predators?

Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) (western flower thrips, WFT) is a key pest in a range of crops worldwide. Anthocorid species (Hemiptera) are important natural enemies of thrips. Several experiments were undertaken to determine whether a thrips lure, methyl isonicotinate (MI), affected the behaviour of WFT and anthocorids found in outdoor crops. Currently, this volatile compound is used in conjunction with sticky traps for monitoring thrips predominantly in greenhouses in Northern Europe. In the present study, in a nectarine [Prunus persica (L.) (Rosaceae)] orchard and an outdoor capsicum [Capsicum annuum L. (Solanaceae)] crop in Spain, blue sticky and white water traps with MI caught significantly more WFT than traps without MI. The volatile compound also significantly increased both blue sticky and white water trap capture of anthocorids – predominantly Orius laevigatus (Fieber) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) – in the capsicum crop. These results indicate that the behaviour of both WFT and O. laevigatus were altered by the presence of the compound and suggest there is potential to develop novel tools based on MI in conjunction with biological control strategies for thrips management.     

Biotic resistance limits the invasiveness of the western flower thrips,Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in Florida

The spread of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), has resulted in the world‐wide destabilization of established integrated pest management programs for many crops. It is hypothesized that frequent exposure to insecticides in intensive agriculture selected for resistant populations, which allowed invasive populations in the eastern USA to overcome biotic resistance from the native community of species. Research conducted in Florida to understand the role of biotic factors in limiting the abundance of the western flower thrips is reviewed. Orius spp. (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) are effective predators that suppress populations of thrips on crop and non‐crop hosts in southern and northern Florida. Orius are more effective predators of the western flower thrips than the native flower thrips, F. tritici (Fitch) and F. bispinosa (Morgan). The native species are competitors of the western flower thrips. Excessive fertilization and the use of broad‐spectrum insecticides in crop fields further enhances populations of the western flower thrips. Interactions with native species clearly limit the abundance of western flower thrips in Florida, but populations are abundant in fertilized crop fields where application of insecticides excludes predators and competitor species.     

Adjacent Habitat Influence on Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Densities and the Associated Damage at Field Corn and Soybean Edges

The local dispersal of polyphagous, mobile insects within agricultural systems impacts pest management. In the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, stink bugs, especially the invasive Halyomorpha halys (Stål 1855), contribute to economic losses across a range of cropping systems. Here, we characterized the density of stink bugs along the field edges of field corn and soybean at different study sites. Specifically, we examined the influence of adjacent managed and natural habitats on the density of stink bugs in corn and soybean fields at different distances along transects from the field edge. We also quantified damage to corn grain, and to soybean pods and seeds, and measured yield in relation to the observed stink bug densities at different distances from field edge. Highest density of stink bugs was limited to the edge of both corn and soybean fields. Fields adjacent to wooded, crop and building habitats harbored higher densities of stink bugs than those adjacent to open habitats. Damage to corn kernels and to soybean pods and seeds increased with stink bug density in plots and was highest at the field edges. Stink bug density was also negatively associated with yield per plant in soybean. The spatial pattern of stink bugs in both corn and soybeans, with significant edge effects, suggests the use of pest management strategies for crop placement in the landscape, as well as spatially targeted pest suppression within fields.     

Biodiversity analysis of natural arthropods enemies in vineyard agroecosystems in La Rioja,Spain

Major knowledge gaps exist regarding effects of landscape-level agroecosystem composition on the presence of natural enemies of agricultural pests. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of landscape mosaic characteristics on the diversity of predators and parasitoids of a viticultural landscape in La Rioja, Spain. Five habitats were evaluated: Mediterranean forest, Mediterranean scrub, olive groves, natural grassland, and vineyards. In all, we collected 28,640 arthropods, representing 10 orders: Araneae, Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Mantodea, Neuroptera, Solifugae, and Thysanoptera. The grassland habitat presented the highest arthropod abundances. Carabid beetles showed preferences for Mediterranean forest and scrub, whereas reduviid bugs showed preferences for natural grassland. Landscape heterogeneity and connectivity with natural elements in the study area turn out to be effective in conservation of diversity of natural enemies of viticulture.