A case study of within-plant distribution of Nesidiocoris tenuis (Heteroptera: Miridae) in greenhouse tomato

Abstract

Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) has good potential as a biological control agent for tomato. In this study, we evaluated the withinplant distribution of N. tenuis in greenhouse grown tomatoes under an increasing temperature condition. When the population density of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) was low, N. tenuis aggregated on the upper leaves. However, when the population density of B. tabaci was increased on the middle leaves, N. tenuis also increased on the middle leaves. These results suggest that N. tenuis are capable of aggregating in an area where B. tabaci are distributed and preying on them. However, we need to investigate not only the increasing temperature condition but also the decreasing temperature condition to prove N. tenuis changes its within-plant distribution depending on prey density.