Cover crops as refuge for natural enemies of pests: the community of predatory and parasitoid insects inhabiting Vicia spp. crops in northern Buenos Aires province, Argentina

BRIAN MESTRE; DANIEL AQUINO; MARÍA GABRIELA LUNA; EMMANUEL ZUFIAURRE

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 7th International Entomophagous Insects Conference (7IEIC); 2023

Organizadas por el INTA, CEPAVE (CONICET-UNLP) y las FAUBA y FCEyN de la UBA

Cover crops (CC) contribute to the biodiversity of agroecosystems, improving biological control services for weeds and pests. Currently, this practice is increasing in the province of Bs. As. In this study we compared the community of entomophagous insects found in commercial fields withVicia spp. as CC practice (N= 6) in contrast to those fallow fields (F; N= 3), the most common practice used in the region. Our objective was to characterize the role of CC in the conservation of beneficial fauna in the north of the province of Bs. As., Argentina. During spring 2022, we conducted monthly insect sampling using whole plant and vertical beating cloth extractions (n=10per field and sampling date each) along 250m transects. Similarly, spontaneous vegetation in the F fields was collected along the transects. Insects were classified under a stereoscopic microscope and identified at the lowest possible taxonomic level. A total of 216 individuals (96 predatory insects and 120 parasitoids) were registered in CC, while no natural enemies were found in F fields. Almost 37% of the species and morphospecies corresponded to aphidophagous Braconidae, Coccinellidae and Syrphidae. Generalist entomophagous Anthocoridae, Geocoridae and several parasitoids and hyperparasitoids (Megaspilidae and Pteromalidae) were also recorded. We conclude that the CC could help maintain a complex food web, including the third and fourth trophic levels of entomophagous fauna, for subsequent summer croprotationsystems.