2019 journal article
Arthropod entrapment increases specialist predators on a sticky crop and reduces damage
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, 137.
author keywords: Trichomes; Mutualism; Plant-provided food; Scavenging; Conservation biological control; Numerical response
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
2. Zero Hunger
(Web of Science)
13. Climate Action
(Web of Science)
15. Life on Land
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: September 3, 2019
Maximizing plant defensive strategies is integral to effective integrated pest management. Direct defenses, in the form of chemical and morphological components that inhibit pest damage, underlie host plant resistance, while indirect defenses including food provisioning and semiochemical production, improve biological control. Interactions between the two defensive strategies may be disruptive, complementary, or synergistic and are an important consideration for effective pest management programs. Glandular trichomes are plant structures that inhibit or entrap arthropods, protecting plants against herbivores, potentially at the cost of reducing natural enemy efficacy. Glandular trichomes may also contribute to indirect defense, as predatory arthropods adapted to “sticky” surfaces scavenge on entrapped arthropods. Scavenging increases predator abundance and reduces plant damage; this protective mutualism has been demonstrated with multiple sticky wild flowers but has not been assessed in an economically important plant, such as tobacco. We augmented dead arthropods (carrion) on tobacco plants grown under conditions similar to commercial production and assessed tri-trophic interactions. Carrion augmentation increased predator abundance, reduced damage to reproductive structures, and increased leaf yield, but did not reduce pest densities. We determined that systemic insecticide use did not affect carrion entrapment on tobacco plants. Review of the literature revealed that a variety of economically important plants entrap arthropods on their surfaces, indicating this mutualism has potential for development into a conservation biological control tactic.