Evaluation for Species Composition and Abundance of Thrips and Orius spp. on Two Species of Insectary Plants, Blue Fan Flower and French Marigold

Abstract

We investigated the abundance and species composition of thrips and Orius spp. on the flowers of two insectary plants; Scaevola aemula R. Br. and Tagetes patula L. cultivated in planters in urban areas of Tokyo. Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom), Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan), and Thrips tabaci Lindeman were the dominant pest thrips on S. aemula. Neohydatothrips samayunkur (Kudo) were the dominant species on T. patula, with peak abundance in mid-November. Orius strigicollis (Poppius) and Orius minutus (L.) were found on both plants. Orius sp. nymphs were also captured from S. aemula. These results suggest that the two plant species are effective candidates of insectary plants to conserve Orius species and to enhance their function of controlling pests even in an urban area.