Heteropteran Bugs Assemblage Associated to Organic Tomato Farms: Knowledge for Pest Management

MONTIEL CÁCERES, R.; SALAS GERVASSIO N.G; MINGHETTI, M.E; DELLAPÉ, P.; LUNA M.G; ROCCA, MARGARITA

NEOTROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC BRASIL

Lugar: BRASIL; Año: 2022

1519-566X

The suborder Heteroptera (Hemiptera) includes zoophagous and zoophytophagousspecies which conform diverse natural enemies´ systems with potential to controlseveral horticultural pests. In this study we report the assemblage structure ofheteropteran bugs species inhabiting open-field and greenhouse organic tomato cropsand one common adjacent non-crop solanaceous plant, Solanum sisymbriifolium , inNorth Buenos Aires province, Argentina, aimed to select promissory biocontrol species.Biweekly direct inspection of selected plants was carried out during a three-year period(2017-2019) to collect hemipteran nymphs and adults. As a result, nine species andmorphospecies belonging to Berytidae (zoophytophagous), Lygaeidae (phytophagous)and Miridae (phytophagous and zoophytophagous) were found, with ≥ 75% of speciesbelonging to the latter family. The zoophytophagous mirid Tupiocoris cucurbitaceuswas the most frequent and dominant species in all sites studied. Among thephytophagous species, Nysius simulans was mostly present in greenhouse crops.The community found in greenhouse tomato crops was more diverse than thatregistered in open-field crops. The characterization of the heteropteran complex inorganic tomato farms provides basic knowledge necessary to design pest controlstrategies in the region studied.