Suppression of Population Growth of the Soybean Aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, by Predators: The Identification of a Key Predator and the Effects of Prey Dispersion, Predator Abundance, and Temperature

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), has recently invaded North America from Asia and has become a major pest in soybean. Using field surveys and cage exclusion techniques, we identified the effect of natural enemies and abiotic factors on the growth of soybean aphid populations in 2004 and 2005. The soybean aphid population was significantly limited by natural enemies in the field. Generalist predators dominated the natural enemy community. One species, Orius insidiosus Say (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) represented 85–90% of predators found. There was a significant negative relationship between aphid population growth and O. insidiosus abundance. For other predators, there were no relationships between abundance and aphid population growth. The spatial distribution of aphids among plants affected the impact of O. insidiosus on aphid population growth. When aphids were distributed in a clumped manner, increases in O. insidiosus numbers resulted in lower aphid growth rates. For randomly distributed aphids, there was no effect of O. insidiosus abundance on aphid population growth. Finally, we found no relationship between aphid population growth and degree-day accumulations. The potential of O. insidiosus to suppress soybean aphid population growth at low aphid numbers and the importance of the predator to soybean aphid integrated pest management are discussed.