We investigated the effects adding straw mulch and distance from the suspected source population (woods) on arthropod abundance and feeding guilds in simulated nurseries. In addition, we examined the indirect effects (predation) of straw mulch on citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri) populations on Huechera micrantha ‘Palace Purple.’ The addition of straw mulch significantly increased overall arthropod abundance, but there was no significant effect of distance from the woods. There was no difference in overall predator abundance between mulched and unmulched pots. However, staphylinid beetles and parasitoid abundance was significantly greater in mulched plots. This did not however, translate to a difference in mealybug survival between mulched and unmulched pots.
Back to Display Presentations, Section F. Crop Protection Entomology
Back to Posters
Back to The 2002 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition