DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nk98sf819
title: Raw data for: Evaluating the impact of alyssum flower strips on biological control of key pests in flue-cured tobacco agroecosystems

description: Flue-cured tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum (L.) is often attacked by various
 pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and tobacco budworms. Insecticide
 application has been the primary method in managing these pests in Yunnan
 province. However, it is necessary to look for more sustainable strategies
 that can help control pests. In this context, conservation biological
 control is a highly promising alternative, involving the cultivation or
 conservation of flowering plants within the agricultural ecosystem to
 attract and support natural enemies. The objective of this study was to
 evaluate the potential of alyssum, Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv. in
 attracting natural enemies and managing pests in flue-cures tobacco
 cultivation. The study conducted two field experiments over successive
 years, each with two treatments and three replicates, arranged in a
 completely randomized design. The treatments were (1) tobacco monoculture,
 and (2) tobacco intercropped with alyssum flower strips. The population
 density of natural enemies and pests was monitored weekly throughout the
 study period. The results showed that the presence of alyssum flowers in
 the tobacco + alyssum treatment significantly increased the abundance of
 generalist predators such as syrphids, rove beetles,
 carabids, Orius sp., and spiders during both experiments. This
 increase in predator population led to a substantial reduction in tobacco
 pests, particularly aphids. Intercropping alyssum with tobacco can serve
 as an effective strategy for managing pests specific to the Nicotiana
 plant, as well as addressing the limited availability of approved
 insecticides for this crop. This approach may help to mitigate
 pest-related issues and reduce the reliance on insecticides in tobacco
 cultivation, contributing to more sustainable pest management practices.
description: <strong><em>Arthropods sampling and
 collection</em></strong> To
 comprehensively evaluate the impact of border flower strips on main pest
 populations and natural enemies in flue-cured tobacco fields, we conducted
 at weekly intervals sampling throughout the entire lifecycle of the border
 flower strips, from seedling to fruit maturity. In 2022, a total of twelve
 samplings were conducted at weekly intervals, starting on May
 30<sup>th</sup> and ending on August
 15<sup>th</sup>, covering the tobacco seedling and flourishing
 stages. In 2023, a total of seventeen samplings were conducted at weekly
 intervals between May 1<sup>st</sup> and August
 21<sup>st</sup>. In case of rainy weather, the investigations
 were postponed. The main methods used to investigate
 arthropod species and quantities on flower and tobacco strips are visual
 observation, sweeping net, and beating tray (Ribeiro and Gontijo, 2017).
 Similarly, methods employed to study arthropod types and quantities in
 tobacco fields include visual observation, pitfall traps, and walking
 inspections (Song et al., 2010; Ribeiro and Gontijo, 2017). Specific
 survey methods are as follows: (1) <em>Visual
 observation</em>, sampling time is from 8:00 to 18:00.
 a. 5 flowers (bunch) were randomly selected at each point, and
 each point was observed by naked eye to attract the species and quantity
 of flower-visiting insects on the flowers of plants. b.
 In flue-cured tobacco fields, each plot has 5 rows of tobacco plants
 (2022) to 8 rows (2023). Randomly survey 5 rows from each plot, inspecting
 5 plants marked with red string at specified locations in each row, and
 record all diurnal arthropods observed visiting the tobacco plants.
 Additionally, during the flowering period of the tobacco plants, visually
 survey and record the diurnal arthropods visiting the tobacco flowers.
 Before the flowering period, only observe the arthropods on the front and
 back of the tobacco leaves from top to bottom and record their types and
 quantities. (2) <em>Sweeping </em>net, at
 each point, 20 nets were swept in the flowers with an insect-catching net
 (the insect-catching net was waved back and forth once for 1 net), and the
 flower-visiting insects caught in the net were collected, and their
 species and quantity were recorded. (3)
 <em>Beating tray</em> involves randomly selecting 5 flowers
 (bunch) from each plot and gently tapping them into a porcelain tray.
 Insect pests and natural enemies that fall from the flowers are then
 counted. To prevent the flying specimens from escaping quickly, the bottom
 of the tray is filled with 10-20 mL of water containing a few drops of
 detergent before each tapping. (4) <em>Pitfall
 traps </em>(Supplementary Fig. 1). Use a disposable plastic cup
 (9.50 cm in height and 6.30 cm in diameter at the cup mouth) as a
 container to bury it underground in the tobacco field, with the cup mouth
 flush with the ground. And the plastic cups were filled with 40 mL of
 water containing several drops of detergent to break the superficial
 tension. Each plot is equipped with a total of 3 traps. Collect arthropods
 that fall into trap cups every 7 days. (5)
 <em>Walking inspection</em>. At night, a walking inspection
 method is used in each plot, which involves investigating a total of 3
 rows along the tobacco planting belt. While walking, the types and
 quantities of arthropods on the tobacco and its planting belt are
 observed, recorded, and collected. All sampled
 arthropods were stored in a 70% ethanol solution and identified in the
 laboratory using a stereo dissecting microscope (model Olympus SZ 51,
 produced by Puhe Optoelectronics (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd). In the
 case of species that cannot be identified, prepare specimens, number them
 uniformly, and ask relevant taxonomic experts to identify them.
 The count of adult parasitoids and parasitized insect pests was
 evaluated in the second experiments using the aforementioned methodology,
 which included visual observation and laboratory identification for
 counting adult insects and mummies, as well as the use of beating trays
 for counting adult insects on flower strips. Through field observation and
 laboratory identification of adult insects and mummies, it was determined
 that the parasitoids belong to <em>A. gifuensis</em>
 Ashmead. <strong><em>Statistical
 analyses</em></strong><strong><em>
 </em></strong> The totals of arthropods
 sampled in each replicate were calculated based on their types (aphids,
 thrips, tobacco caterpillars, whiteflies, generalist predators, adult
 parasitoids, and mummified aphids), as well as the date of sampling. This
 sum includes data from all types of sampling methods used. Therefore, as
 the type and quantity of samplings were standardized across treatments and
 dates, each sum mentioned above represents a single measurement of pest or
 natural enemy density per experimental unit (three per
 treatment). The population density of pests and natural
 enemies data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 25.0; SPSS, Chicago,
 IL, USA). The differences in the effects of the different treatments
 (tobacco + alyssum and tobacco + tobacco strips) and sampling time on the
 population density of pests and natural enemies were analyzed using a
 two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The least significant difference
 (LSD) test was used to analyze the differences in population densities of
 insect pests and natural enemies between different treatments
 (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Differences in
 population densities of insect pests (aphids, thrips, tobacco
 caterpillars, whiteflies) and natural enemies (not including those sampled
 on alyssum flowers) between treatments were assessed using two-way
 repeated measures analyses of variance (PROC GLM) for each experiment’s
 data. The least significant difference (LSD) test was used to analyze the
 differences in population densities of insect pests and natural enemies
 between different treatments under the same sampling time
 (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). All images were drawn in Gradpad
 Prism v8.0.2 (GraphPad Software Inc., USA).
 <em><strong>References</strong></em> Ribeiro, A. L., & Gontijo, L. M. (2017). Alyssum flowers promote biological control of collard pests. <em>BioControl, 62</em>(2), 185-196. DOI: 10.1007/s10526-016-9783-7 Song, B. Z., Wu, H. Y., Kong, Y., Zhang, J., Du, Y. L., Hu, J. H., & Yao, Y. C. (2010). Effects of intercropping with aromatic plants on the diversity and structure of an arthropod community in a pear orchard. <em>BioControl, 55</em>(6), 741-751. DOI: 10.1007/s10526-010-9301-2 <em><strong>Usage notes</strong></em> Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice can be used to view Populationofmainpestsandnaturalenemiesinflue_curedtobaccofieldsunderdifferenttreatmentandsamplingtimes_Data.csv and Otherpredatorssampledatdifferentinvestigationdate_Data.csv
description: # Raw data for: Evaluating the impact of alyssum flower strips on
 biological control of key pests in flue-cured tobacco agroecosystems
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nk98sf819](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nk98sf819) We have submitted our raw data (Populationofmainpestsandnaturalenemiesinflue_curedtobaccofieldsunderdifferenttreatmentandsamplingtimes_Data.csv), and the individuals of other predators (Otherpredatorssampledatdifferentinvestigationdate_Data.csv). ## Description of the data and file structure ### Populationofmainpestsandnaturalenemiesinflue\_curedtobaccofieldsunderdifferenttreatmentandsamplingtimes\_Data.csv * *Treatment:* Two treatments of this study ('tobacco'+'tobacco' and 'tobacco'+'alyssum') * *The investigation time of arthropods sampling and collection (Year-mm-dd):* 2022 and 2023 * *Aphids:* *Myzus persicae* * *Thrips:* *Frankliniella occidentalis* * *Duplicates:* Three replicates were set for each survey ### Otherpredatorssampledatdifferentinvestigationdate\_Data.csv * *Treatment:* Two treatments of this study ('tobacco'+'tobacco' and 'tobacco'+'alyssum') * *The investigation time of arthropods sampling and collection (Year-mm-dd):* 2022 and 2023 * *Syrphidae ('adults'+'larvae'):* The adults and larvae of hoverflies (Syrphidae) were counted respectively in the two experiments, mainly including: *Eristalis arbustorum, Eristalis tenax, Eristalinus taeniops, Syrphus corollae, Meliscaeva cinctella, Syritta orientalis, Sphaerophoria scripta, Episyrphus balteatus* * *Anthocoridae: *Mainly *Orius similis* * *Chrysopidae ('adults'+'larvae'), Carabidae beetles, Staphylinidae, Coccinellidae ('adults'+'larvae'), Miridae: *Mainly *Chrysopa pallens*, *Harpalus sinicus*, *Agelosus carinatu*, *Harmonia axyridis* and *Coccinella septempunctata*, *Nesidiocoris tenuis* * *Spiders:* Mainly *Neoscona chasisa, Neoscona theisi, Araneus diadematus, Misumena vatia, Hylyphantes graminicola, Tetragnatha maxillosa, Wadicosa fidelis, Pholcus sp., Misumenops tricuspidatus, Pisaura sp.* * *Duplicates:* Three replicates were set for each survey ## Sharing/Access information The sources of arthropod identification collected from flue_cured tobacco fields are as follows: Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: * \[http://www.zoology.csdb.cn/] The following URL is merely used as a tool for identifying arthropods collected from flue_cured tobacco fields and is not a source of data: * China Animal Scientific Database Web ## Code/Software SPSS(version 25.0; SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) is required to analyze The population density of pests and natural enemies data. Using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze the differences in the effects of the different treatments (tobacco + alyssum and tobacco + tobacco strips) and sampling time on the population density of pests and natural enemies. The difference between population densities of pests (aphids, thrips, tobacco caterpillars, white flies) and natural enemies (excluding those sampled on flowers) at treatments was analyzed using bidirectional repeated measurements of variance (PROC GLM).