Jermaine Hinds & Mary Barbercheck Penn State Department of - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF PLANT DIVERSIFICATION ON ATTRACTION AND PEST SUPPRESSION IN AN INSECTARY BORDER Jermaine Hinds & Mary Barbercheck Penn State Department of Entomology

Natural Enemies

Resource Plant Provisioning  Insectary plants provision natural enemies (Lundgren, 2009).  Natural enemies prefer specific resource plants (Hogg et al. 2011).  Insectary mixtures may support more natural enemies.

Research Question  Can plant-based resources promote natural enemy abundance?  Can a mixture provide further support?  Objectives:  Evaluate potential of two plant species to support natural enemies by assessing:  Resource availability  Natural enemy abundance  Predation levels  Natural enemy abundance greater in presence of plant-based resources

Buckwheat Cowpea Biculture (Fagopyrum esculenum) (Vigna unguiculata)  Sampling:  Resource abundance  Sweep net samples  Sentinel eggs ( Ostrinia nubilalis )

Stand Establishment  Vigorous buckwheat growth; anthesis 3 weeks after planting  Poor cowpea establishment  Buckwheat dominated biculture

Buckwheat inflorescences increase and cowpea EFNs decrease in biculture Number of Number of Buckwheat Inflorescences Cowpea EFNs 12 12 BW BI CP BI Average # Inflorescences per Plant * * 10 10 * Average # EFN per Plant 8 8 * * 6 6 4 4 2 2 0 0 3 4 5 3 4 5 Weeks After Planting Weeks After Planting

Total Arthropods 300 250 Total Arthropods 200 150 100 50 0 Anthocoridae Miridae Coccinellidae Thomisidae Aphididae Cicadellidae Miridae Parasitica Chrysomelidae Anthocoridae 300 Coleomegilla maculata 250 Total Arthropods 200 150 100 50 Orius spp. 0 Anthocoridae Miridae Coccinellidae Thomisidae Aphididae

Coleomegilla maculata increases with increasing number of inflorescences but not EFNs 12 BW CP BI Mean C. mac Found per 5 Sweeps * P <0.0001 10 * P =0.0001 8 6 * P <0.017 4 * P =0.057 * P <0.0001 2 * P =0.0011 0 3 4 5 Weeks After Planting

Orius spp. abundance greater in presence of flowers 12 BW CP BI Mean # of Orius Found per 5 Sweeps 10 8 ns 6 * P=0.0001 4 * P=0.0001 2 0 3 4 5 Week After Planting

Egg predation is not affected by treatment 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 Proportion of Eggs 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 BW CP BI Corn Insectary Strip Treatment

Preliminary Findings  Can plant-based resources promote natural enemy abundance in insectary strips?  C. maculata and Orius spp. greater in floral plots  Natural enemies not abundant in cowpea  Can a mixture further support natural enemies? Biculture dominated by buckwheat  Does insectary strip enhance predation?  Not affected by treatment

Lingering Questions and Future Directions  Future Directions  Are insectary strips reducing predation on arthropod prey by distracting C. maculata and Orius spp. ?  How does insectary plants influence predation within nearby crops?  Can management of insectary plants be used to “push” beneficial insects into nearby cash crops?

Acknowledgements  USDA NIFA-OREI Program  Cover Crop Cocktails Group  NE-SARE Graduate Student Grant  Bunton-Waller Fellowship  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation  Lloyd. E. Adams Memorial Award  International Association of Black Entomologists  Russell E. Larson Ag Research Center Staff