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Effect of flower traits and hosts on the abundance of parasitoids in perennial multiple species wildflower strips sown within oilseed rape (Brassica napus) crops

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Abstract

Reducing the use of insecticides is an important issue for agriculture today. Sowing wildflower strips along field margins or within crops represents a promising tool to support natural enemy populations in agricultural landscapes and, thus, enhance conservation biological control. However, it is important to sow appropriate flower species that attract natural enemies efficiently. The presence of prey and hosts may also guide natural enemies to wildflower strips, potentially preventing them from migrating into adjacent crops. Here, we assessed how seven flower traits, along with the abundance of pollen beetles (Meligethes spp., Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and true weevils (Ceutorhynchus spp., Coleoptera: Curculionidae), affect the density of parasitoids of these two coleopterans in wildflower strips sown in an oilseed rape field in Gembloux (Belgium). Only flower traits, not host (i.e. pollen beetles and true weevils) abundance, significantly affected the density of parasitoids. Flower colour, ultraviolet reflectance and nectar availability were the main drivers affecting parasitoids. These results demonstrate how parasitoids of oilseed rape pests react to flower cues under field conditions. Similar analyses on the pests and natural enemies of other crops are expected to help to develop perennial flower mixtures able to enhance biological control throughout a rotation system.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the technical support provided by the Experimental Farm of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège), Marc Dufrêne for its precious help regarding the statistical analyses, the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) for providing a PhD fellowship to Thomas Lopes and the TRY initiative on plant traits (http://www.try-db.org) for providing the data on flower traits. Séverin Hatt, Roel Uyttenbroeck, and more generally this research, were funded by the Cellule d’Appui à la Recherche et à l’Enseignement (CARE) AgricultureIsLife (University of Liège).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TERRA – AgricultureIsLife, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Passage Des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Séverin Hatt & Roel Uyttenbroeck

  2. Functional and Evolutionary Entomology, Department of Agronomy, Biology and Chemistry, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Passage Des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Séverin Hatt, Thomas Lopes & Frédéric Francis

  3. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 2 West Yuanmingyuan Rd, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China

    Séverin Hatt & Ju Lian Chen

  4. Biodiversity and Landscapes, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Passage Des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Roel Uyttenbroeck & Arnaud Monty

  5. Natagriwal Asbl, Passage Des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Julien Piqueray

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  1. Séverin Hatt
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  2. Roel Uyttenbroeck
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Correspondence to Séverin Hatt.

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11829_2017_9567_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary material 1 (TIFF 99 kb). Figure S1. Total number of a) Meligethes spp. and b) their parasitoids trapped at peak (14 and 21 May), as well as of c) Ceutorhynchus spp. and d) their parasitoids at peak (11 June) in each plot

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Hatt, S., Uyttenbroeck, R., Lopes, T. et al. Effect of flower traits and hosts on the abundance of parasitoids in perennial multiple species wildflower strips sown within oilseed rape (Brassica napus) crops. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 12, 787–797 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-017-9567-8

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