Use of plant resources by an omnivorous predator and the consequences for effective predation |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratory of Ecology & Environmental Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece;2. Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55 Athens, Greece;3. Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands;1. USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station, 2217 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV 25430, USA;2. Institute of Environmental and Physical Sciences, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV 25443, USA;1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, PR China;2. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, H9X 3V9, Canada;1. Washington State University, Department of Entomology, Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, 1100 N Western Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801, United States;2. Washington State University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, 263 Johnson Hall, PO Box 646420, Pullman, WA 99164, United States;3. Washington State University, Department of Entomology, 166 FSHN Bldg, PO Box 646382, Pullman, WA 99164, United States;1. Laboratorio de Control Biológico, Departamento de Producción Agrícola, CUCBA, Universidad de Guadalajara, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico;2. French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), Univ. Nice Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, UMR 1355-7254 Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, 06903 Sophia-Antipolis, France;1. CIRAD, UMR PVBMT, F-97410 Saint-Pierre, La Réunion, France;2. INRA, Equipe RDLB, Sophia Antipolis, France |
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| Abstract: | Plant-provided food may enhance survival and establishment of omnivorous predators on target crops but on the other hand they may adversely affect predation rates and thus their potential for biological control of target pests. However, it is not known how predation is affected by plant food quality and prey density. The omnivorous predator Macrolophus pygmaeus is commonly used in augmentative releases in greenhouse crops. Experiments have shown its ability to utilize plant resources; eggplant and pepper plant leaves are the most and least suitable, respectively. In this study we searched the effects of floral resources (pollen or flower) of eggplant or pepper plant on the predation rate of M. pygmaeus. We used experiments in dishes (leaves) and cages (plants) under a range of densities of its prey, the aphid Myzus persicae. We did not find evidence that the consumption rates and the type of the functional responses of M. pygmaeus were affected by the plant leaf (eggplant vs pepper plant) or the increase in the spatial scale (leaf vs plant). However, the presence of pollen or a flower of eggplant and to a lesser extent of pepper plant reduced the plateau of the functional response to aphid density and increased the handling time per prey. The extent of prey feeding replacement by flower resources was dependent on the interaction between plant species and prey density. It seems that there is a constant rate of prey consumption replacement at intermediate and high prey densities on eggplant but only at intermediate prey densities on pepper plant. These results indicate the interactions between plant and prey resources in diets of omnivores and may be useful for its efficacy in pest control on eggplant and pepper plant. |
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| Keywords: | Phytophagy Eggplant Pepper plant Predation |
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