Arthropod pests and natural enemy communities in tea ecosystems of India

Abstract

Tea is grown as a perennial monoculture over large contiguous areas in Northeast India. Arthropods occupy a variety of functional niches and microhabitats and play a major role in the sustainable and healthy functioning of tea ecosystem. Conventional tea cultivation has often accomplished high yields and stable crop production, but has been heavily dependent on continuous and often excessive chemical pesticides, which lead to pest resistance, resurgence and destruction of natural enemies. This communication collates diversity of foliage arthropods on tea plants and tea ecosystems in India. A total of 553 arthropod species comprising 439 species of insects in 89 families and 11 orders and 114 species of arachnids in 30 families and 2 orders are associated with the tea ecosystem. In the tea ecosystem, abundance of phytophagous pests was dominated by Lepidoptera, Hemiptera and Coleoptera. Based on feeding habits, 62.57 % of the arthropods recorded were natural enemies, dominated by spiders, coccinellids and hymenopteran parasitoids. This article is expected to provide useful foundation for exploring integrated pest management strategies appropriate for organic, conventionally grown tea.