Effect of host plants on predation, prey preference and switching behaviour of Orius albidipennis on Bemisia tabaci and Tetranychus turkestani

Abstract

AbstractThe anthocorid bugOrius albidipennisReuter is a generalist predator that feeds on the whiteflyBemisia tabaciGennadius and the strawberry spider miteTetranychus turkestaniUgarov & Nikolski in greenhouse crops. There are no previous studies on the potential efficacy of the predatory bug against these pests on greenhouse crops. We report on the efficacy and the prey preference of the predator to control these pests on different host plants under laboratory conditions. In a laboratory experiment, we estimated the predation rates ofO. albidipennisat different densities of each prey after 24 h on cucumber and sweet pepper leaves. Predation rates of the predatory bug toT. turkestaniandB. tabaciwere significantly higher on sweet pepper leaf than on cucumber leaf. We studied the effect of plant species on prey preference and switching ofO. albidipennistoB. tabaciandT. turkestaniusing Manly'sαindex values and Murdoch's no-switch line, respectively. Our results show thatO. albidipennisprefersT. turkestanitoB. tabacion both host plants but its preference forT. turkestanion sweet pepper is significantly greater than on cucumber. Moreover, on sweet pepper, preference values are completely fitted by Murdoch's no-switch line. The findings suggest that morphological defence traits of plants, such as hairy leaves of cucumber, may effectively change prey preference and reduce predation success ofO. albidipennis.