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Is Xysticus kochi (Araneae: Thomisidae) an efficient indigenous biocontrol agent of Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)?

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2008

Abstract

According to the present practice of Hungarian greenhouse sweet pepper production, only exotic agents are used for biological control purposes against thrips pests. The suitability for biological control of the second instars of an indigenous species, the common crab spider, Xysticus kochi Thorell (Araneae: Thomisidae) was tested on thrips species, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) and Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) using a cage set-up on greenhouse sweet pepper plants. Effects of introducing second instars of X. kochi on thrips infested plants were judged by assessing the degree of aesthetical damage, the commercial value of the fruits (degree of economic loss) and the quality composition of the harvested peppers. The estimated damaged surface unit was significantly lower in control plants than in plants infested by F. occidentalis. A significant effect of the spider introduction was observed in all of the pepper quality indicators applied. We suspect that direct Xysticus predation or any other predator-induced effect resulted in reduced levels of damage on harvested peppers. However, further investigation is needed to detect the origin (e.g., predation and non-predation effects) of the suppression of thrips damage. Our results suggest that X. kochi could be an effective component of greenhouse antagonistic fauna and the application of mulch may encourage the effectiveness of spiderlings.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. F. Samu for the revision assistance and to the three anonymous reviewers for the accurate revision and detailed comments. The authors are grateful to Mr. B. Preiss and Mr. M. Hayes for the English corrections. The project was financed by OTKA Grant No. F 034474 and GAK Alap1 Grant No. 00052/2004. F. Tóth was a Bolyai Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Szent Istvan University, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department Plant Protection, Pater K. u. 1, Godollo, 2103, Hungary

    Peter Zrubecz, Ferenc Toth & Attila Nagy

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  1. Peter Zrubecz
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  2. Ferenc Toth
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  3. Attila Nagy
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Correspondence to Peter Zrubecz.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10526-008-9158-9

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Zrubecz, P., Toth, F. & Nagy, A. Is Xysticus kochi (Araneae: Thomisidae) an efficient indigenous biocontrol agent of Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)?. BioControl 53, 615–624 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-007-9100-6

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