Two Macrolophus species, M. melanotoma (=M. caliginosus) and M. pygmaeus, have been referred to a... more Two Macrolophus species, M. melanotoma (=M. caliginosus) and M. pygmaeus, have been referred to as efficient predators of several key pests on vegetable crops in Europe. However, due to the great morphological similarity of these species, they have been confused, with important consequences for inoculative releases of these predators in greenhouses and for the conservation of their natural populations on greenhouse and outdoor crops. In this work, we developed tools to identify these morphologically very similar species. We first confirmed the specific status of two Macrolophus populations collected on their respective host plants (Dittrichia viscosa and tomato) through crossing experiments. Then, using multivariate morphometric analysis, we proposed a linear discriminant function that combines head measurements separating males from the two species without error. Finally, we designed specific primers for a mitochondrial DNA region that were able to distinguish field-collected Macrolophus individuals through conventional PCR. In conclusion, the tools developed in the present study will allow reliable identification of the Macrolophus species present in crops and in the native flora that are the source of populations that colonise them. They will also allow correct identification of mass reared Macrolophus to be introduced in greenhouse crops in inoculative releases.
espanolSe analizan los resultados de un muestreo realizado en las comarcas del Segria (Lerida) y ... more espanolSe analizan los resultados de un muestreo realizado en las comarcas del Segria (Lerida) y del Bajo Cinca y La Litera (Huesca), desde marzo de 2016 hasta septiembre de 2017, dentro de un proyecto en el que se evaluaba la fauna util presente en el agro-ecosistema de los frutales de hueso. Se recolectaron 1797 aranas, que se distribuyen entre 80 especies, pertenecientes a 19 familias. A destacar, desde la perspectiva faunistica, la presencia de un taxon no descrito (Tmeticus ibericus n. sp.) y otros no citados de la fauna iberica hasta la fecha [Textrix intermedia Wunderlich, 2008, Zelotes egregius Simon, 1914 y Bathyphantes parvulus (Westring, 1851)] o bien mal conocidos o escasamente citados [Cheiracanthium virescens (Sundevall, 1833), Civizelotes medianoides Senglet, 2012, Heser nilicola (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874), Alioranus pauper (Simon, 1881), Centromerus minutissimus Merret & Powell, 1993, Oedothorax apicatus (Blackwall, 1850) y Pardosa occidentalis Simon, 1881]. Aqui, limita...
Agricultural intensification is affecting the biological control of insect pests, an important co... more Agricultural intensification is affecting the biological control of insect pests, an important component for sustainable crop production. To understand the changing patterns of insect abundance within an agroecosystem, it is necessary to disentangle the trophic interactions between species, and metabarcoding is an excellent alternative to show them. In the Ebro Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), agricultural landscapes are composed by a mosaic of crops scattered with natural and semi-natural habitats, where the presence of Orius spp., used as biocontrol agents, is well known. In order to shed light about their predatory role in this area, a previously developed metabarcoding multi-primer method has been used to study the arthropod and plant most common resources consumed by some field collected Orius laevigatus, Orius majusculus and Orius niger, sampled at different dates in a peach and an alfalfa adjacent crops. Their high-throughput sequencing analysis showed the consumption of 15 arth...
Within the genus Macrolophus (Heteroptera: Miridae), the species M. costalis (Fieber), M. melanot... more Within the genus Macrolophus (Heteroptera: Miridae), the species M. costalis (Fieber), M. melanotoma (Costa) and M. pygmaeus (Rambur) are present in the Mediterranean region on a wide variety of plant species. While M. costalis can easily be separated from the other two by the black tip at the scutellum, M. pygmaeus and M. melanotoma are cryptic species, extremely similar to one another in external traits, which have resulted in misidentifications. M. pygmaeus is an efficient biological control agent, both in greenhouse and field crops. The misidentification of these cryptic species could limit the effectiveness of biological control programs. Although morphology of the left paramere of the male genitalia has been used as a character for identification of these two cryptic species, there is controversy on the reliability of this character as a taxonomic tool for these species. Using geometric morphometric techniques, which are a powerful approach in detecting slight shape variations...
Zoophytophagous mirid species, that feed and develop either on prey or plant resources, are often... more Zoophytophagous mirid species, that feed and develop either on prey or plant resources, are often found simultaneously on the same host. Hence, these species can engage in both intraguild predation and cannibalism, which can pose a threat to mirid eggs. Ovipositing females may respond to such p. 2 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. risks of predation on their eggs by reducing the number of eggs laid or selecting safer oviposition sites. We tested the oviposition behaviour of Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur) (Hemiptera: Miridae) females under the risk of cannibalism by M. pygmaeus males and intraguild predation by Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) males (Hemiptera: Miridae) under laboratory conditions. Intraguild predators and cannibals were introduced during or after the oviposition period. The number of eggs laid (using counts of newly hatched nymphs) and their proportion on each part of a tomato plant were both measured. The results reveal that only cannibalism by M. pygmaeus males after the period of oviposition significantly decreased the number of hatched eggs. Cannibalism thus represents a greater risk to mirid eggs than intraguild predation. The M. pygmaeus female responded to the presence of potential intraguild predators (or competitors) by decreasing the number of eggs laid in the upper leaves. The results suggest that M. pygmaeus females avoid competition by N. tenuis, by laying fewer eggs on upper leaves. Cannibalism could regulate zoophytophagous predator populations under prey scarcity conditions and minimize the risk of crop damage associated with those biological control agents.
Conservation biological control involves manipulation of the environment to enhance the effective... more Conservation biological control involves manipulation of the environment to enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies in controlling crop pests. In this study, we combined historical data, sticky trap sampling of tomato greenhouses and beat sampling of adjacent vegetation to identify which greenhouse characteristics, habitat management practices and landscape features favour an early colonisation of tomato greenhouses by the key mirid predator Macrolophus pygmaeus and its establishment in NE Spain. Results show that landscape composition and the use of Calendula officinalis banker plants inside the greenhouse are key factors. In general, greater amounts of herbaceous semi-natural cover at the landscape scale promoted M. pygmaeus colonisation, while the use of C. officinalis banker plants encouraged M. pygmaeus colonisation independently of the landscape context. We identified host plants adjacent to tomato greenhouses that sustain M. pygmaeus populations; however, they did not have a major effect on M. pygmaeus colonisation compared to larger landscape and banker plant effects. Early colonisation of greenhouses by this predator species also translated into lower accumulated incidence of pests at the end of the sampling period. This study demonstrates the importance of active habitat management practices in promoting the early arrival of M. pygmaeus in greenhouses with delayed spontaneous colonisation.
Despite wide acceptance of the importance of integrated pest management, pest control in most cro... more Despite wide acceptance of the importance of integrated pest management, pest control in most cropping systems depends on the extensive use of pesticides, with detrimental effects on environmental and human health. These effects have led to many pesticides being removed from use, increasing demands for the rapid development of alternative solutions. Biological pest control aims for control through natural enemies, which significantly reduces and even eliminates pesticide use in crops. The role of noncultivated areas in agricultural landscapes in supporting biodiversity functions, such as the biological control by providing natural enemies with food and refuge, is only partially understood. Efficient implementation of biological pest control requires a wide range of knowledge and skills, not least those of farmers. Here we suggest the promotion of so called operational groups composed of farmers, scientists (agronomists and ecologists), extension service advisors, agribusiness repres...
the article highlights major landmarks in the development of Integrated Pest management (IPm) pro... more the article highlights major landmarks in the development of Integrated Pest management (IPm) programmes for tomato greenhouses in the mediterranean region. this is the story of how biological control has been succesfully implemented as a cornerstone of IPm programmes in Catalonia (northeastern spain), one of the pioneering areas in the mediterranean basin for the im plementation of biological control in greenhouses. In the 1970s, Trialeurodes va porariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was the key pest in the area and first programmes in protected tomato crops were based on inoculative releases of the parasitoid Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: aphelinidae). However, failures caused by the expansion of Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: aphelinidae) and the increasing importance of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: aleyrodidae) propitiated the change to use heteropterans of the miridae family as biocontrol agents. These generalist predators were already observed during the first trials in the 1...
Our study aimed to assess the contribution of natural parasitism due to Necremnus tutae Ribes & B... more Our study aimed to assess the contribution of natural parasitism due to Necremnus tutae Ribes & Bernardo (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to the biological control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidopera:Gelechiidae) in commercial plots where an IPM program based on the use of predatory mirid bugs was implemented. During the samplings, the presence of another parasitoid was detected and, therefore, a second part of our study intended to identify this species and to evaluate the importance of its natural populations in the biological control of the pest. Leaflets with T. absoluta galleries were collected during 2017–2020 from commercial tomato plots in the horticultural production area of Catalonia (Northeast Spain), including greenhouses, open fields, and roof covered tunnels that lack side walls. In the laboratory, T. absoluta larvae were classified as ectoparasitized, alive, or dead. Reared parasitoids from ectoparasitized larvae were mostly morphologically identified as Necremnus sp. wit...
MedISys is a media monitoring system initially intended for news items related to human health. T... more MedISys is a media monitoring system initially intended for news items related to human health. The tool has how been extended by the Joint Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida and IRTA to also deal with plant health threats. This EFSA-funded project was based on a knowledge representation approach that generated an ontology, a formal representation of knowledge related to plant health threats. The ontology models plant pests and diseases, together with other concepts related with them: affected crops, hosts, vectors and symptoms. First of all, a collection of news sources related to plant health threats was collected to be monitored by MedISys. These sources included already known manually curated Web pages but also additional ones discovered by performing global Web searches using terms appearing in the ontology. Then, the news items coming from these sources were filtered using MedISys using a set of categories with keywords to identify those actually about plant health threats. Most of these categories focused on known threats and used terms associated with the 117 pests and diseases selected at the beginning of the project. Additionally, categories for unknown threats were also developed. In this case the categories included keywords that are usually used by experts to describe unknown threats and keywords related with symptoms expressions. All these MedISys categories combined provide mechanism to monitor plant health threats mentions in media, from newspapers to social media, ranging from those that explicitly mention a named threat (useful to monitor re-emerging threats or their spread) to those related to unknown ones (to monitor potential new threats). The project concluded with an evaluation of the e-mail alerts and reports generated by MedISys based on the previous categories. A survey and tests with real users were conducted and the results analysed to generate a set of recommendations and improvements to facilitate the use of MedISys as a plant health threats monitoring tool.
The feeding habits of the generalist arthropod predators in agroecosystems are often difficult to... more The feeding habits of the generalist arthropod predators in agroecosystems are often difficult to determine, as they are small, mobile and live among the vegetation or in the soil. DNA-based gut-content analysis is a powerful tool that enables the study of arthropod predator-prey interactions. Predation on two of the main pests of Mediterranean lettuce crops, the lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, and the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, as well as on Collembola, the most abundant non-pest prey, was studied. Generalist arthropods, like hoverflies, anthocorids (Orius spp.), coccinellids and spiders were collected in lettuce plots in two seasons (spring and summer) and analysed by conventional PCR using N. ribisnigri, F. occidentalis and Collembolaspecific primers. Our results showed that in spring the main pest was N. ribisnigri, which was consumed by hoverfly larvae and coccinellids. In summer, the main pest was F. occidentalis, which was mainly predated by Orius spp. followed by hoverfly larvae. Spiders, which fed mainly on Collembola, did not seem to contribute to control of either target pest. This study offers a deeper knowledge of the trophic relationships present in Mediterranean lettuce crops, laying the groundwork for implementing biological control programmes based on the conservation of natural enemies.
A correct taxonomic identification of predators is of paramount importance in biological control ... more A correct taxonomic identification of predators is of paramount importance in biological control for both research and the transfer of results to integrated pest management (IPM) technicians. Dicyphus spp. are zoophytophagous mirid bugs that are well known for their role in the control of several horticultural crop pests in Europe. The genus is organized into 4 subgenera and includes more than 20 Mediterranean species. Within subgenera, species can be grouped according to their morphology. In this poster, we focus on the species of the Dicyphus (Dicyphus) hyalinipennis group, four of which have been reported as generalist crop predators. The objective of our work was to present a state-of-the-art clarification of the identity of all of the Mediterranean species belonging to the D. (D.) hyalinipennis group. General external features (colour and size) are not reliable when identifying Dicyphus species, so the main characteristics to be taken into account were biometry (i.e. the relati...
Two Macrolophus species, M. melanotoma (=M. caliginosus) and M. pygmaeus, have been referred to a... more Two Macrolophus species, M. melanotoma (=M. caliginosus) and M. pygmaeus, have been referred to as efficient predators of several key pests on vegetable crops in Europe. However, due to the great morphological similarity of these species, they have been confused, with important consequences for inoculative releases of these predators in greenhouses and for the conservation of their natural populations on greenhouse and outdoor crops. In this work, we developed tools to identify these morphologically very similar species. We first confirmed the specific status of two Macrolophus populations collected on their respective host plants (Dittrichia viscosa and tomato) through crossing experiments. Then, using multivariate morphometric analysis, we proposed a linear discriminant function that combines head measurements separating males from the two species without error. Finally, we designed specific primers for a mitochondrial DNA region that were able to distinguish field-collected Macrolophus individuals through conventional PCR. In conclusion, the tools developed in the present study will allow reliable identification of the Macrolophus species present in crops and in the native flora that are the source of populations that colonise them. They will also allow correct identification of mass reared Macrolophus to be introduced in greenhouse crops in inoculative releases.
espanolSe analizan los resultados de un muestreo realizado en las comarcas del Segria (Lerida) y ... more espanolSe analizan los resultados de un muestreo realizado en las comarcas del Segria (Lerida) y del Bajo Cinca y La Litera (Huesca), desde marzo de 2016 hasta septiembre de 2017, dentro de un proyecto en el que se evaluaba la fauna util presente en el agro-ecosistema de los frutales de hueso. Se recolectaron 1797 aranas, que se distribuyen entre 80 especies, pertenecientes a 19 familias. A destacar, desde la perspectiva faunistica, la presencia de un taxon no descrito (Tmeticus ibericus n. sp.) y otros no citados de la fauna iberica hasta la fecha [Textrix intermedia Wunderlich, 2008, Zelotes egregius Simon, 1914 y Bathyphantes parvulus (Westring, 1851)] o bien mal conocidos o escasamente citados [Cheiracanthium virescens (Sundevall, 1833), Civizelotes medianoides Senglet, 2012, Heser nilicola (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874), Alioranus pauper (Simon, 1881), Centromerus minutissimus Merret & Powell, 1993, Oedothorax apicatus (Blackwall, 1850) y Pardosa occidentalis Simon, 1881]. Aqui, limita...
Agricultural intensification is affecting the biological control of insect pests, an important co... more Agricultural intensification is affecting the biological control of insect pests, an important component for sustainable crop production. To understand the changing patterns of insect abundance within an agroecosystem, it is necessary to disentangle the trophic interactions between species, and metabarcoding is an excellent alternative to show them. In the Ebro Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), agricultural landscapes are composed by a mosaic of crops scattered with natural and semi-natural habitats, where the presence of Orius spp., used as biocontrol agents, is well known. In order to shed light about their predatory role in this area, a previously developed metabarcoding multi-primer method has been used to study the arthropod and plant most common resources consumed by some field collected Orius laevigatus, Orius majusculus and Orius niger, sampled at different dates in a peach and an alfalfa adjacent crops. Their high-throughput sequencing analysis showed the consumption of 15 arth...
Within the genus Macrolophus (Heteroptera: Miridae), the species M. costalis (Fieber), M. melanot... more Within the genus Macrolophus (Heteroptera: Miridae), the species M. costalis (Fieber), M. melanotoma (Costa) and M. pygmaeus (Rambur) are present in the Mediterranean region on a wide variety of plant species. While M. costalis can easily be separated from the other two by the black tip at the scutellum, M. pygmaeus and M. melanotoma are cryptic species, extremely similar to one another in external traits, which have resulted in misidentifications. M. pygmaeus is an efficient biological control agent, both in greenhouse and field crops. The misidentification of these cryptic species could limit the effectiveness of biological control programs. Although morphology of the left paramere of the male genitalia has been used as a character for identification of these two cryptic species, there is controversy on the reliability of this character as a taxonomic tool for these species. Using geometric morphometric techniques, which are a powerful approach in detecting slight shape variations...
Zoophytophagous mirid species, that feed and develop either on prey or plant resources, are often... more Zoophytophagous mirid species, that feed and develop either on prey or plant resources, are often found simultaneously on the same host. Hence, these species can engage in both intraguild predation and cannibalism, which can pose a threat to mirid eggs. Ovipositing females may respond to such p. 2 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. risks of predation on their eggs by reducing the number of eggs laid or selecting safer oviposition sites. We tested the oviposition behaviour of Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur) (Hemiptera: Miridae) females under the risk of cannibalism by M. pygmaeus males and intraguild predation by Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) males (Hemiptera: Miridae) under laboratory conditions. Intraguild predators and cannibals were introduced during or after the oviposition period. The number of eggs laid (using counts of newly hatched nymphs) and their proportion on each part of a tomato plant were both measured. The results reveal that only cannibalism by M. pygmaeus males after the period of oviposition significantly decreased the number of hatched eggs. Cannibalism thus represents a greater risk to mirid eggs than intraguild predation. The M. pygmaeus female responded to the presence of potential intraguild predators (or competitors) by decreasing the number of eggs laid in the upper leaves. The results suggest that M. pygmaeus females avoid competition by N. tenuis, by laying fewer eggs on upper leaves. Cannibalism could regulate zoophytophagous predator populations under prey scarcity conditions and minimize the risk of crop damage associated with those biological control agents.
Conservation biological control involves manipulation of the environment to enhance the effective... more Conservation biological control involves manipulation of the environment to enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies in controlling crop pests. In this study, we combined historical data, sticky trap sampling of tomato greenhouses and beat sampling of adjacent vegetation to identify which greenhouse characteristics, habitat management practices and landscape features favour an early colonisation of tomato greenhouses by the key mirid predator Macrolophus pygmaeus and its establishment in NE Spain. Results show that landscape composition and the use of Calendula officinalis banker plants inside the greenhouse are key factors. In general, greater amounts of herbaceous semi-natural cover at the landscape scale promoted M. pygmaeus colonisation, while the use of C. officinalis banker plants encouraged M. pygmaeus colonisation independently of the landscape context. We identified host plants adjacent to tomato greenhouses that sustain M. pygmaeus populations; however, they did not have a major effect on M. pygmaeus colonisation compared to larger landscape and banker plant effects. Early colonisation of greenhouses by this predator species also translated into lower accumulated incidence of pests at the end of the sampling period. This study demonstrates the importance of active habitat management practices in promoting the early arrival of M. pygmaeus in greenhouses with delayed spontaneous colonisation.
Despite wide acceptance of the importance of integrated pest management, pest control in most cro... more Despite wide acceptance of the importance of integrated pest management, pest control in most cropping systems depends on the extensive use of pesticides, with detrimental effects on environmental and human health. These effects have led to many pesticides being removed from use, increasing demands for the rapid development of alternative solutions. Biological pest control aims for control through natural enemies, which significantly reduces and even eliminates pesticide use in crops. The role of noncultivated areas in agricultural landscapes in supporting biodiversity functions, such as the biological control by providing natural enemies with food and refuge, is only partially understood. Efficient implementation of biological pest control requires a wide range of knowledge and skills, not least those of farmers. Here we suggest the promotion of so called operational groups composed of farmers, scientists (agronomists and ecologists), extension service advisors, agribusiness repres...
the article highlights major landmarks in the development of Integrated Pest management (IPm) pro... more the article highlights major landmarks in the development of Integrated Pest management (IPm) programmes for tomato greenhouses in the mediterranean region. this is the story of how biological control has been succesfully implemented as a cornerstone of IPm programmes in Catalonia (northeastern spain), one of the pioneering areas in the mediterranean basin for the im plementation of biological control in greenhouses. In the 1970s, Trialeurodes va porariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was the key pest in the area and first programmes in protected tomato crops were based on inoculative releases of the parasitoid Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: aphelinidae). However, failures caused by the expansion of Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: aphelinidae) and the increasing importance of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: aleyrodidae) propitiated the change to use heteropterans of the miridae family as biocontrol agents. These generalist predators were already observed during the first trials in the 1...
Our study aimed to assess the contribution of natural parasitism due to Necremnus tutae Ribes & B... more Our study aimed to assess the contribution of natural parasitism due to Necremnus tutae Ribes & Bernardo (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to the biological control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidopera:Gelechiidae) in commercial plots where an IPM program based on the use of predatory mirid bugs was implemented. During the samplings, the presence of another parasitoid was detected and, therefore, a second part of our study intended to identify this species and to evaluate the importance of its natural populations in the biological control of the pest. Leaflets with T. absoluta galleries were collected during 2017–2020 from commercial tomato plots in the horticultural production area of Catalonia (Northeast Spain), including greenhouses, open fields, and roof covered tunnels that lack side walls. In the laboratory, T. absoluta larvae were classified as ectoparasitized, alive, or dead. Reared parasitoids from ectoparasitized larvae were mostly morphologically identified as Necremnus sp. wit...
MedISys is a media monitoring system initially intended for news items related to human health. T... more MedISys is a media monitoring system initially intended for news items related to human health. The tool has how been extended by the Joint Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida and IRTA to also deal with plant health threats. This EFSA-funded project was based on a knowledge representation approach that generated an ontology, a formal representation of knowledge related to plant health threats. The ontology models plant pests and diseases, together with other concepts related with them: affected crops, hosts, vectors and symptoms. First of all, a collection of news sources related to plant health threats was collected to be monitored by MedISys. These sources included already known manually curated Web pages but also additional ones discovered by performing global Web searches using terms appearing in the ontology. Then, the news items coming from these sources were filtered using MedISys using a set of categories with keywords to identify those actually about plant health threats. Most of these categories focused on known threats and used terms associated with the 117 pests and diseases selected at the beginning of the project. Additionally, categories for unknown threats were also developed. In this case the categories included keywords that are usually used by experts to describe unknown threats and keywords related with symptoms expressions. All these MedISys categories combined provide mechanism to monitor plant health threats mentions in media, from newspapers to social media, ranging from those that explicitly mention a named threat (useful to monitor re-emerging threats or their spread) to those related to unknown ones (to monitor potential new threats). The project concluded with an evaluation of the e-mail alerts and reports generated by MedISys based on the previous categories. A survey and tests with real users were conducted and the results analysed to generate a set of recommendations and improvements to facilitate the use of MedISys as a plant health threats monitoring tool.
The feeding habits of the generalist arthropod predators in agroecosystems are often difficult to... more The feeding habits of the generalist arthropod predators in agroecosystems are often difficult to determine, as they are small, mobile and live among the vegetation or in the soil. DNA-based gut-content analysis is a powerful tool that enables the study of arthropod predator-prey interactions. Predation on two of the main pests of Mediterranean lettuce crops, the lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, and the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, as well as on Collembola, the most abundant non-pest prey, was studied. Generalist arthropods, like hoverflies, anthocorids (Orius spp.), coccinellids and spiders were collected in lettuce plots in two seasons (spring and summer) and analysed by conventional PCR using N. ribisnigri, F. occidentalis and Collembolaspecific primers. Our results showed that in spring the main pest was N. ribisnigri, which was consumed by hoverfly larvae and coccinellids. In summer, the main pest was F. occidentalis, which was mainly predated by Orius spp. followed by hoverfly larvae. Spiders, which fed mainly on Collembola, did not seem to contribute to control of either target pest. This study offers a deeper knowledge of the trophic relationships present in Mediterranean lettuce crops, laying the groundwork for implementing biological control programmes based on the conservation of natural enemies.
A correct taxonomic identification of predators is of paramount importance in biological control ... more A correct taxonomic identification of predators is of paramount importance in biological control for both research and the transfer of results to integrated pest management (IPM) technicians. Dicyphus spp. are zoophytophagous mirid bugs that are well known for their role in the control of several horticultural crop pests in Europe. The genus is organized into 4 subgenera and includes more than 20 Mediterranean species. Within subgenera, species can be grouped according to their morphology. In this poster, we focus on the species of the Dicyphus (Dicyphus) hyalinipennis group, four of which have been reported as generalist crop predators. The objective of our work was to present a state-of-the-art clarification of the identity of all of the Mediterranean species belonging to the D. (D.) hyalinipennis group. General external features (colour and size) are not reliable when identifying Dicyphus species, so the main characteristics to be taken into account were biometry (i.e. the relati...
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