Seasonal abundance of hemipteran predators in relation to western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on weeds in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey

WOS: 000279674300005Generalist predators and the prey species Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) were periodically sampled from 64 weed species to determine their numerical interrelationships in three ecologically different locations in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey in 2002-2003. Adult and nymph stages of seven hemipteran predator species were recorded: Deraeocoris pallens Reuter, Geocoris arenarius (Jakovkev), Nabis punctatus Costa, Orius laevigatus Fieber, Orius majusculus (Reuter), Orius niger (Wolff) and Piocoris erythrocephalus (Peletie and Serville). The most common and abundant predator species was O. niger, which was found on 53 weed species in the winter-spring and summer-fall periods; the highest total numbers of O. niger adults per weed species were 139, 275, 266 and 325 on Urtica urens, Sinapis arvensis, Lamium amplexicaule and Mentha aquatica, respectively. Relatively higher numbers of Orius spp. nymphs were detected on the weed species Echium plantagineum, Cichorium intybus, Heliotropium europeum, Mentha aquatica and Polygonum aviculare. Orius spp. were attracted to flowers in significantly higher numbers than to leaves of the investigated weeds. No significant correlation was found between the numbers of Orius spp. and F. occidentalis on the major weed species, except E. plantagineum. These findings suggest that weeds may provide Orius spp. with resources other than prey, such as nectar and pollen, shelter, and breeding sites. The weed species on which relatively higher numbers of Orius adults and nymphs were found may be considered as candidates for studies aiming to include weeds to enhance integrated pest management of F. occidentalis on crops.Cukurova UniversityCukurova University [ZF2002-BAP/71]The authors would like to thank Prof Dr Nedim Uygun (Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Cukurova University, Adana-Turkey) and Dr Nikos Roditakis (NAGREF- Plant Protection Institute Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece) for identification of the predators, Dr Sibel Uygur (Faculty of Agriculture Department of Plant Protection University of Cukurova, Adana-Turkey) for identification of the weed species and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions which improved the manuscript. This study was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Fund of Cukurova University (Project No: ZF2002-BAP/71)