Occurrences and Species Compositions of Orius spp. in Cultivation Fields and Surrounding Vegetation at Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Abstract

Conservation biological control (CBC) is the most important strategy for recent integrated pest management systems. For open field cultivations, it is the first step in CBC to clarify the ecological characteristics of native natural enemies by case. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and species compositions of Orius spp. on various types of vegetation from spring to early summer in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture in central Japan for 3 years. Orius spp. occurred firstly on broad-leaved dock and then white clover. The occurrence on eggplant was later than that on zucchini in the same field. Species composition also varied among the types of vegetation. These results suggested the high value of broad-leaved dock and white clover for CBC with native Orius spp. in this area.