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Half Friend, Half Enemy? Comparative Phytophagy between Two Dicyphini Species (Hemiptera: Miridae)
Despite their importance as biological control agents, zoophytophagous dicyphine mirids can produce economically important damage. We evaluated the phytophagy and potential impact on tomato plants of and . We developed a study in three parts: (i) a semi-field trial to characterize the type of plant...
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Published in: | Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-02, Vol.13 (2), p.175 |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Despite their importance as biological control agents, zoophytophagous dicyphine mirids can produce economically important damage. We evaluated the phytophagy and potential impact on tomato plants of
and
. We developed a study in three parts: (i) a semi-field trial to characterize the type of plant damage produced by these species on caged tomato plants; (ii) a laboratory experiment to assess the effect of fruit ripeness, mirid age, and prey availability on feeding injuries on fruit; and (iii) a laboratory assay to compare the position of both species on either fruit or plants, over time. Both species produced plant damage, however, although both species produced scar punctures on leaves and necrotic patches on petioles, only
produced necrotic rings. Both species caused flower abortion at a similar level. Overall,
females produced more damage to tomato fruit than
. There was an increased frequency of
females found on the plants over time, which did not happen with
. Our results suggested that, although
caused less damage to fruit than
, it still fed on them and could cause floral abortion, which requires field evaluation and caution in its use in biological control strategies. |
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ISSN: | 2075-4450 2075-4450 |
DOI: | 10.3390/insects13020175 |