Nesidiocoris tenuis as a pest in Northwest Europe: Intervention threshold and influence of Pepino mosaic virus

Abstract

The use of Nesidiocoris tenuis (Hemiptera: Miridae) as a biocontrol agent is controversial as it is considered a pest in Northwest European tomato greenhouses, due to its tendency to damage the plant and fruit. Necessary chemical plant protection products to control N. tenuis have toxic side effects on important beneficials like Macrolophus pygmaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae), which jeopardizes the whole IPM programme. In this study, several commercial tomato greenhouses were monitored for mirid populations. The relationship between the number of N. tenuis individuals and plant damage was assessed in function of availability of prey and interaction with M. pygmaeus. These greenhouse data were used to determine a practical density intervention threshold. Next, the hypothesis that a Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) infection increases plant and fruit damage by N. tenuis (as has been shown for M. pygmaeus) was tested. Plant damage occurred when the average number of predatory bugs in the head of the plant exceeded 16 per ten plants. Plant damage increased in severity at increasing predatory bug densities, independent of the availability of prey and M. pygmaeus presence. Plant and fruit damage were not affected by the presence of PepMV, as was shown for fruit damage in previous studies for M. pygmaeus. Our study provides a practical density intervention threshold for growers in greenhouse crops. Simple monitoring of the number of predatory bugs in the head of the plant can be used to take specific biocontrol actions. It was also shown that only the predatory bug N. tenuis itself causes damage, and there is no interaction with PepMV.

Jekyll or Hyde? The genome (and more) of Nesidiocoris tenuis, a zoophytophagous predatory bug that is both a biological control agent and a pest

“…In addition, due to its high degree of polyphagous behaviour, it is able to prey on other pest species such as thrips, leaf miners, leafhoppers, aphids, spider mites and lepidopteran pests (Pérez‐Hedo and Urbaneja, 2016). While N. tenuis is an important biological control agent in Mediterranean countries (Urbaneja et al ., 2012; Pérez‐Hedo et al ., 2020), it is often cited as a pest in other contexts and countries (Calvo et al ., 2009; Pérez‐Hedo and Urbaneja, 2016; Moerkens et al ., 2020). When prey is scarce in tomatoes, due to its phytophagy, N. tenuis can cause plant lesions such as brown discoloration around tender stems, known as necrotic rings, in addition to leaf wilt, and flower abortion (Arnó et al ., 2010; Chinchilla‐Ramírez et al ., 2021).…”

Biological Control Potential and Drawbacks of Three Zoophytophagous Mirid Predators against Bemisia tabaci in the United States

“…N. tenuis is extensively used as a biological control agent for whiteflies and lepidopterans in Southern European tomato production systems [ 1 ]. Although N. tenuis is considered one of the most effective zoophytophagous biocontrol agents, this mirid can become a pest of tomato particularly in mild climate regions [ 22 , 23 ]. N. tenuis feeding produces necrotic rings around stems as well as damage to flowers and fruits to a level that can cause economic loss [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

The Jekyll and Hyde case of Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) in the management of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) on tomato plants under greenhouse conditions

“…In the Mediterranean Basin, management of greenhouse pests compensates the feeding damage caused by N. tenuis (Bhatt & Patel, 2018;Pérez-Hedo et al 2017). On the contrary, plant feeding damage caused by N. tenuis is more severe than the bene ts it brings as a natural enemy, thus it has been considered a pest in the south of France (Trottin-Caudalet al 2006;Trottin-Caudal & Millot, 1997) and recently in Belgium and the Netherlands (Moerkens et al 2020). Nesidiocoris tenuis being a bene cial natural enemy and a pest is still a controversy.…”