1. Efficacy of Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatile Methyl Salicylate in Evaluating the Seasonal Abundance of Herbivorous Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Sweet Pepper.
- Author
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Abana, Uzoamaka C. and Amarasekare, Kaushalya G.
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THRIPS , *SWEET peppers , *CROPS , *PEST control , *ORNAMENTAL plants , *ARTHROPOD pests , *FIELD crops - Abstract
Simple Summary: Pest thrips species damage fruits, vegetables, field crops, and ornamental plants. They are difficult to control effectively using only insecticides. Semiochemicals produced by plants or animals are useful in integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce insecticide use in crop production. These chemicals attract arthropod pests and/or natural enemies of arthropod pests into cropping systems. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) or plant-produced semiochemicals such as methyl salicylate (MS) attract natural enemies and can be used as a pest management tactic. This research, conducted in Tennessee in 2018 and 2019, focused on investigating the efficacy of MS and the aggregation pheromone neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate (NMB), an attractant of western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis, a severe pest of many crops, as a thrips management technique when compared with a no-lure control using sweet pepper as the crop plant. Our results show that the key species of thrips attracted to both lure treatments and the no-lure control was Frankliniellatritici, a significant pest of young cotton plants, which can also reduce the pest pressure from F. occidentalis by increasing its numbers in crop plants, banker plants, or trap crops. We discuss the possibility of using MS lure as a herbivorous thrips management practice in crop production. Herbivorous thrips that damage fruits, vegetables, field crops, and ornamentals are challenging to control using insecticides and need an integrated approach (IPM) for their management. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are semiochemical plants produced to attract natural enemies (NEs) of arthropod herbivores. Sex pheromones are animal-based semiochemicals that can attract males or females of conspecifics. The HIPV methyl salicylate (MS) is used in IPM to attract NEs. We conducted field experiments in 2018–2019 in Tennessee to study the efficacy of MS and the aggregation pheromone neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate (NMB), which attracts Frankliniella occidentalis (FO), a dominant pest of many crops, in attracting thrips using sweet peppers. We found a significantly higher number of thrips in traps baited with MS than in the traps containing NMB when compared with a no-lure control. All treatments caught only one thrips species, Frankliniella tritici (FT), a significant pest of young cotton. It can also lower the abundance of FO in other crops. Our findings show that although FO was not found in the study location in Tennessee, traps baited with MS are suitable for managing FT and reducing FO in susceptible crops by increasing FT and attracting NEs to crop productions that use IPM-based management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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