A simulation model for the functional response of Orius sauteri on eggplant leaves with Thrips palmi: Implications for biological control.

The predation capability of the anthocorid predatory bug Orius sauteri (Poppius) determines its effectiveness for suppressing Thrips palmi Karny on greenhouse eggplants. For quantifying the daily impact of one predator on its prey, we use its patch leaving behaviour on eggplant leaves with different prey numbers and scale up to the larger spatiotemporal scale of the greenhouse and one foraging day, using literature data on the distribution of T. palmi over eggplant leaves. The simulation result is a type-II functional response of O. sauteri as function of average T. palmi density: around the economic injury level of T. palmi, i.e., 0.55 individuals per leaf, O. sauteri can find and eat approximately 10 prey per day. The sensitivity analysis showed that the baseline leaving tendency, the presence of and the encounter rate with prey have a relatively large effect on the daily mean number of prey eaten per O. sauteri predator, i.e., its predation capability