title: Intra- and interspecific competition between western flower thrips and sweetpotato whitefly.
abstract: The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), and the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), are both invasive insect pests and are present in most of the same agricultural crops without a clear dominance of either species. Here, intra- and interspecific competition in B. tabaci and F. occidentalis was determined under controlled experiments. The results showed that intraspecific competition was distinct in F. occidentalis and that the co-occurrence of B. tabaci had a strong effect on F. occidentalis, resulting in a decrease in oviposition. Significant intraspecific competition was found in B. tabaci, and the coexistence of F. occidentalis had limited effect on the oviposition of B. tabaci. In a selective host plant preference experiment, both F. occidentalis and B. tabaci preferred eggplants most, followed by cucumbers and tomatoes. On cucumber plants, B. tabaci was predominant, whereas on eggplant and tomato plants, F. occidentalis and B. tabaci exhibited comparative competitive abilities during the initial stage. However, over time, higher numbers of B. tabaci than that of F. occidentalis were found on the two host plants. Our in vitro and potted plant experiments indicate that B. tabaci is competitively superior to F. occidentalis, which might help to explain their differential distribution patterns in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China wuqingjun@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Qing-Jun
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Yun
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: You-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D020387:Food Chain; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010058:Oviposition; D011156:Population Density; D013045:Species Specificity; D061149:Thysanoptera / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Bemisia tabaci; Frankliniella occidentalis; interspecific competition; intraspecific competition