Pick and Mix: Selecting Flowering Plants to Meet the Requirements of Target Biological Control Insects

Do flower mixtures with high functional diversity enhance aphid predators in wildflower strips?

“…This is the case for plants of both Fabaceae and Malvaceae, which have a corolla that is too deep for e.g. hoverfl ies to access their nectar (Wäckers & Van Rijn, 2012).…”

“…However, most of the predators trapped, especially ladybeetles, were trapped in the H and VL plots. Leucanthemum vulgare is typically visited by hoverfl ies, ladybeetles and lacewings (Ricci et al, 2005;Carrié et al, 2012;Wäckers & Van Rijn, 2012), because it is a rich source of nectar and pollen (Brodie et al, 2015). This resource might be of particular benefi t to ladybeetles, for which pollen is one its most nutritious nonprey food sources, enabling them to complete their development and survive when prey are scarce (Berkvens et al, 2008;Lundgren, 2009).…”

“…Moreover, rather than relying on mixture FD, sowing fl ower species that are known to support natural enemies might enhance their presence in WFS, and even favour pest control in adjacent crops. This is the "pick and mix" approach developed by Wäckers & Van Rijn (2012) and successfully tested in the fi eld by Tschumi et al (2014Tschumi et al ( , 2015Tschumi et al ( , 2016. Nevertheless, WFS have to provide multiple ecosystem services, including pollination, and participate in the conservation of insect species that are endangered in agricultural landscapes (Ekroos et al, 2014;Batáry et al, 2015).…”

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

“…Regarding herbaceous flowering strips, the pick and mix approach focuses on the species diversity by assessing the effect of a diversity of flower species on natural enemies (Wäckers and Van Rijn, 2012). Recent field-based experiments highlighted the ability of these tailored flower mixtures to enhance insect pest control and reduce crop damage in the adjacent crops, as compared with the generic flower mixture often proposed in the framework of agrienvironmental policies for biodiversity conservation purpose (targeted pests were aphids on potato and pollen availability, flowering time and duration, flower volatiles) (Campbell et al, 2010;Fiedler and Landis, 2007a;Hatt et al, 2017b;Wäckers, 2004).…”

“…Braconidae; Aphelinidae) (Campbell et al, 2012;Martínez-Uña et al, 2013;Wäckers and Van Rijn, 2012). Implementing perennial species could also provide benefits, notably offering overwintering sites to natural enemies and favouring their presence at the early stage of insect pest colonisation.…”