Assessment of trap crops for Lygus spp. in lettuce |
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| Authors: | B. Ra mert S. Hellqvist B. Ekbom J.E. Banks |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Centre de Recherches Agricoles Sud, Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin, and Laboratoire de Biotechnologie, Ressources Génétiques et Amélioration des Espèces Animales et Végétales, University of Abomey-Calavi, Allada, Beninaffokpon_antoine@yahoo.fr;3. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nairobi, Kenya;4. Department of Biosystems, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Heverlee, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | The effectiveness of the use of trap crops for reducing herbivorous Lygus spp. (Heteroptera: Miridae) in a lettuce agroecosystem was evaluated in a series of field experiments in two locations in Sweden. Trap crop efficacy was determined by comparing Lygus densities in plots of lettuce with densities in adjacent plots of the cover crops Melilotus officinalis, Vicia sativa, Trifolium pratense and Medicago sativa, and the weed Artemisia vulgaris . All of the trap crops tested were more attractive to Lygus than lettuce, with between five- and 30-times as many adult Lygus on cover crops and more than 100-times more on A. vulgaris. Lygus rugulipennis was the dominant species on all plant species. These results suggest that a wide range of trap crops, including nitrogen-fixing cover crops, may be suitable for reducing populations of Lygus spp. in lettuce cropping systems. |
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| Keywords: | Trap Crop Cover Crop Lygus Rugulipennis Lactuca Sativa |
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