Do Refuge Plants Favour Natural Pest Control in Maize Crops?

ABSTRACT: The use of non-crop plants to provide the resources that herbivorous crop pests' natural enemies need is being increasingly incorporated into integrated pest management programs. We evaluated insect functional groups found on three refuges consisting of five different plant species each, planted next to a maize crop in Lima, Peru, to investigate which refuge favoured natural control of herbivores considered as pests of maize in Peru, and which refuge plant traits were more attractive to those desirable enemies. Insects occurring in all the plants, including the maize crop itself, were sampled weekly during the crop growing cycle, from February to June 2011. All individuals collected were identified and classified into three functional groups: herbivores, parasitoids, and predators. Refuges

SUBMITTER: Quispe R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5620691 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature