Field investigation‐ and dietary metabarcoding‐based screening of arthropods that prey on primary tea pests

Predatory natural enemies play key functional roles in biological control. Abundant predatory arthropod species have been recorded in tea plantation ecosystems. However, few studies have comprehensively evaluated the control effect of predatory arthropods on tea pests in the field. We performed a 1‐...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and evolution 2022-07, Vol.12 (7), p.e9060-n/a
Main Authors: Yang, Tingbang, Song, Xuhao, Zhong, Yang, Wang, Bin, Zhou, Caiquan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural practices
Agroecology
Arthropoda
Arthropods
Biological control
Canopies
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Diet
diet analysis
DNA
DNA barcoding
DNA metabarcoding
Ecosystem Ecology
Ecosystems
Entomology
Field investigations
Fragments
Genes
Integrated pest management
Microorganisms
Natural enemies
Pest control
Pesticides
Pests
Plantations
Population dynamics
Population Ecology
Predators
predatory arthropods
Prey
Relative abundance
Species
spiders
Tea
tea pests
Trophic Interactions
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Summary:Predatory natural enemies play key functional roles in biological control. Abundant predatory arthropod species have been recorded in tea plantation ecosystems. However, few studies have comprehensively evaluated the control effect of predatory arthropods on tea pests in the field. We performed a 1‐year field investigation and collected predatory arthropods and pests in the tea canopy. A total of 7931 predatory arthropod individuals were collected, and Coleosoma blandum (Araneae, Theridiidae) was the most abundant species in the studied tea plantation. The population dynamics between C. blandum and four main tea pest species (Aleurocanthus spiniferus, Empoasca onukii, Ectropis grisescens, and Scopula subpunctaria) were established using the individual number of predators and pests in each month. The results showed that C. blandum appeared to co‐occur in the tea canopy with A. spiniferus, Em. onukii, and Ec. grisescens in a longer period. The prey spectrum of C. blandum was further analyzed using DNA metabarcoding. Among prey species, A. spiniferus, Em. onukii, and Ec. grisescens were included, and the relative abundance and positive rates of target DNA fragments of A. spiniferus were greater than that of other two pests. Combined with the high dominance index of C. blandum, co‐occurrence between C. blandum and A. spiniferus in time and space and high positive rate and relative abundance of target DNA fragments of A. spiniferus, C. blandum was identified to prey on A. spiniferus, and C. blandum may be an important predator of A. spiniferus. Thus, C. blandum has potential as a biological control agent of A. spiniferus in an integrated pest management strategy. (1) Coleosoma blandum (Araneae, Theridiidae) was the most abundant species in the studied tea plantation and accounted for 34.80% of the total individual number of predatory arthropods; (2) C. blandum appeared to co‐occur in the tea canopy with three main tea pest species (A. spiniferus, Em. onukii and Ec. grisescens) in a longer period; (3) A. spiniferus, Em. onukii and Ec. grisescens were included in the prey spectrum of C. blandum, and the relative abundance and positive rates of target DNA fragments of A. spiniferus were greater than that of other two pests
ISSN:2045-7758
2045-7758
DOI:10.1002/ece3.9060