Control of Flower Thrips, Flankliniella intonsa (Trybom) and Sweetpotato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) on Sweet Pepper in Greenhouses in Okinawa, Southwestern Japan, by Releasing Polyphagous Indigenous Predator, Campylomma chinensis Schuh (Hemiptera: Miridae).

Abstract

Field experiments were replicated three times from 2008 to 2011 to evaluate the effectiveness of a polyphagous indigenous predator, Campylomma chinensis, to control Frankliniella intonsa and Bemisia tabaci in sweet pepper greenhouses in Okinawa, southwestern Japan. C. chinensis was released three or four times in each trial, with a density of one adult per plant per release (0.5 adults/m²). The C. chinensis population was successfully established in the greenhouse in all experiments. The density of F. intonsa in the greenhouse where C. chinensis was released was consistently lower than that in the non-released greenhouse in all experiments. The density of B. tabaci in the greenhouse where C. chinensis was released was lower than that in the non-released greenhouse except for one experiment in which the density of B. tabaci did not increase in the non-released greenhouse. The percentage of fruit damaged by F. intonsa and B. tabaci was also examined in two of the three experiments; the percentage in the C. chinensis-released greenhouse was consistently lower than that in the non-released greenhouse in both experiments. These results strongly suggest that C. chinensis is a promising biological control agent for F. intonsa and B. tabaci in sweet pepper greenhouse cultivation.