Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids

Zoophytophagous mirids (Hemiptera: Miridae) are one of the most studied and successful group of natural enemies used as biological control agents in horticultural crops. When prey is scarce, some species, such as Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter), may damage plant tissue by increasing feeding on vegetati...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo, Bru, Pablo, González-Cabrera, Joel, Urbaneja, Alberto, Tena, Alejandro
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6251
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-019-01105-9
_version_ 1855492046247165952
author Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo
Bru, Pablo
González-Cabrera, Joel
Urbaneja, Alberto
Tena, Alejandro
author_browse Bru, Pablo
González-Cabrera, Joel
Tena, Alejandro
Urbaneja, Alberto
Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo
author_facet Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo
Bru, Pablo
González-Cabrera, Joel
Urbaneja, Alberto
Tena, Alejandro
author_sort Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo
collection ReDivia
description Zoophytophagous mirids (Hemiptera: Miridae) are one of the most studied and successful group of natural enemies used as biological control agents in horticultural crops. When prey is scarce, some species, such as Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter), may damage plant tissue by increasing feeding on vegetative and reproductive organs. Despite the importance of mirids, the provision of a sugar source as an alternative or complement to plant feeding has never been addressed to reduce mirid phytophagy. Here, we analyzed the nutritional status and phytophagy of N. tenuis in the presence of tomato plants with and without sugar dispensers. Our study demonstrated how nymphs and adults obtained carbohydrates when fed on tomato plants. Phytophagy was reduced more than twofold with the provision of sugar dispensers. Both nymphs and adults contained higher carbohydrate levels when they had access to plants with sugar dispensers than without. Nymphs, which are generally responsible for more serious plant damage, had a higher content of carbohydrates than adults independently of the diet provided. Our findings contribute not only to improve the use of zoophytophagous predators as biological control agents, but also to understand the nutritional ecology of the Miridae, a group with a very diverse diet.
format Artículo
id ReDivia6251
institution Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Springer
publisherStr Springer
record_format dspace
spelling ReDivia62512025-04-25T14:46:39Z Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo Bru, Pablo González-Cabrera, Joel Urbaneja, Alberto Tena, Alejandro Nesidiocoris tenuis Nutritional ecology H10 Pests of plants Biological control Tomatoes Artificial foods Zoophytophagous mirids (Hemiptera: Miridae) are one of the most studied and successful group of natural enemies used as biological control agents in horticultural crops. When prey is scarce, some species, such as Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter), may damage plant tissue by increasing feeding on vegetative and reproductive organs. Despite the importance of mirids, the provision of a sugar source as an alternative or complement to plant feeding has never been addressed to reduce mirid phytophagy. Here, we analyzed the nutritional status and phytophagy of N. tenuis in the presence of tomato plants with and without sugar dispensers. Our study demonstrated how nymphs and adults obtained carbohydrates when fed on tomato plants. Phytophagy was reduced more than twofold with the provision of sugar dispensers. Both nymphs and adults contained higher carbohydrate levels when they had access to plants with sugar dispensers than without. Nymphs, which are generally responsible for more serious plant damage, had a higher content of carbohydrates than adults independently of the diet provided. Our findings contribute not only to improve the use of zoophytophagous predators as biological control agents, but also to understand the nutritional ecology of the Miridae, a group with a very diverse diet. 2019-05-28T12:11:00Z 2019-05-28T12:11:00Z 2019 article acceptedVersion Urbaneja-Bernat, P., Bru, P., González-Cabrera, J., Urbaneja, A., & Tena, A. (2019). Reduced phytophagy in sugar-provisioned mirids. Journal of Pest Science, 1-10. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6251 10.1007/s10340-019-01105-9 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-019-01105-9 en Springer electronico
spellingShingle Nesidiocoris tenuis
Nutritional ecology
H10 Pests of plants
Biological control
Tomatoes
Artificial foods
Urbaneja-Bernat, Pablo
Bru, Pablo
González-Cabrera, Joel
Urbaneja, Alberto
Tena, Alejandro
Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title_full Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title_fullStr Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title_full_unstemmed Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title_short Reduced phytophagy in sugar‑provisioned mirids
title_sort reduced phytophagy in sugar provisioned mirids
topic Nesidiocoris tenuis
Nutritional ecology
H10 Pests of plants
Biological control
Tomatoes
Artificial foods
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6251
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-019-01105-9
work_keys_str_mv AT urbanejabernatpablo reducedphytophagyinsugarprovisionedmirids
AT brupablo reducedphytophagyinsugarprovisionedmirids
AT gonzalezcabrerajoel reducedphytophagyinsugarprovisionedmirids
AT urbanejaalberto reducedphytophagyinsugarprovisionedmirids
AT tenaalejandro reducedphytophagyinsugarprovisionedmirids