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Predation by Nesidiocoris tenuis on Bemisia tabaci and injury to tomato

BioControl volume 54, pages 237–246 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Tomato is the most important vegetable crop in Spain. The mirid bug Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) commonly appears in large numbers in protected and open-air tomato crops where little or no broad-spectrum insecticides are used. Nesidiocoris tenuis is known to be a predator of whiteflies, thrips and several other pest species. However, it is also considered a pest because it can feed on tomato plants, causing necrotic rings on stems and flowers and punctures in fruits. Our objectives were to evaluate predation by N. tenuis on sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius under greenhouse conditions and establish its relationship to N. tenuis feeding on tomato. Two different release rates of N. tenuis were compared with an untreated control (0, 1 and 4 N. tenuis plant−1) in cages of 8 m2. Significant reductions of greater than 90% of the whitefly population and correspondingly high numbers of N. tenuis were observed with both release rates. Regression analysis showed that necrotic rings on foliage caused by N. tenuis were best explained by the ratio of B. tabaci nymphs:N. tenuis as predicted by the equation y = 15.086x − 0.6359.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ana Gallego, Gervasio Tapia and David Beltrán (Koppert B.S.; Spain) for technical assistance with experiments and maintenance of insect colonies. This work was partially funded by the MCYT (Ministerio Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain: Programa PROFIT) through project number of FIT-010000-2002-18.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. R & D Department, Koppert Biological Systems S.L., Finca Labradorcico del Medio, s/n. Apartado de Correos 286, 30880, Aguilas, Spain

    Javier Calvo & Alberto Urbaneja

  2. R & D Department, Koppert B.V., Veilingweg 17, 2651 BE, Berkel en Rodenrijs, The Netherlands

    Karel Bolckmans

  3. University of Florida-IFAS, 2686 State Road 29N, 34142, Immokalee, FL, USA

    Philip A. Stansly

  4. Unidad de Entomología, Centro de Protección Vegetal y Biotecnología, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Carretera de Moncada – Náquera Km. 4,5, 46 113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

    Alberto Urbaneja

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  1. Javier Calvo
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  2. Karel Bolckmans
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  3. Philip A. Stansly
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  4. Alberto Urbaneja
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Correspondence to Alberto Urbaneja.

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Hanlding editor: Eric Lucas.

This research is part of an internal R&D project conducted at Koppert Biological Systems S.L. in Spain. The main goal was to improve control of Bemisia tabaci in protected crops of southeastern Spain by bringing on a new biological control agent.

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Calvo, J., Bolckmans, K., Stansly, P.A. et al. Predation by Nesidiocoris tenuis on Bemisia tabaci and injury to tomato. BioControl 54, 237–246 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-008-9164-y

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