Use of flowers strips to attract pollinators' insects and natural enemies in tomato crop

The goal of this research was to analyze the effect of the flower’s strips and the proximity of the corn field on the environmental services of regulation by insects (pollination and biological control) in tomato crop (Solanum lycopersicum). The study was fulfilled with commercial tomato (6.200 m²) in the Brazilian Cerrado. The experimental outline was completely randomized with 15 plots of 5 x 4 meters, constructed by 16 tomato plants, with two treatments 1) tomato without attractive flowers strips (control); 2) tomato with attractive flowers strips of cilantro and sorghum. The cilantro flowered before the sorghum and both species were not flowering simultaneously. The sampling of pollinator insects and natural enemies was performed using the trap-type Bee bowls and active collection. The tomato production was verified by the weight of the fruits of 8 plants/ plot. The data were analyzed by the t test for the comparison of diversity and the abundance of insects between treatments. The tomato production was analyzed by multiple regression to verify the effects of treatments (x1), diversity of insects (x2) and the interaction between them (x1: x2). As a result, the abundance of natural enemies was higher with attractive stripes of cilantro flowers than the control (p = 0.03). The richness of pollinator insects was significantly higher in tomatoes with flowers strips of sorghum than the control (p = 0.05). The effect of mix of flowers strips intercropped (cilantro + sorghum) increased three times the abundance of the total of natural enemies in the tomatoes with the flower’s strips compared with the tomatoes without the strips (p=0.04). Our results clearly show that the use of attractive flower strips of the mix of cilantro and sorghum in interleaved periods with tomatoes contributes to the permanence of the services provided by insects to the crop field.

本研究旨在探究花带与玉米田邻近程度对番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）田内昆虫介导的生态调节服务（授粉与生物防治）的影响。实验于巴西塞拉多（Brazilian Cerrado）的商用番茄田（面积6200 m²）中开展。实验采用完全随机设计，设置15个5×4米的样地，每个样地定植16株番茄，设置两组处理：1）无诱赏花带的番茄田（对照组）；2）种植芫荽（cilantro）与高粱（sorghum）诱赏花带的番茄田。其中芫荽花期早于高粱，二者无重叠开花期。
传粉昆虫与天敌昆虫的采样采用碗形蜂诱捕器（Bee bowls）与主动采集法完成；番茄产量以每个样地内8株番茄的果实总重量进行测定。数据分析方面，采用t检验对两组处理间的昆虫多样性与丰度进行比较分析；采用多元回归分析探究处理因素（x₁）、昆虫多样性（x₂）及其交互作用（x₁:x₂）对番茄产量的影响。
结果显示：种植芫荽诱赏花带的样地内，天敌昆虫丰度显著高于对照组（p=0.03）；种植高粱诱赏花带的样地内，传粉昆虫物种丰富度显著高于对照组（p=0.05）；间作混合花带（芫荽+高粱）的番茄田，其天敌总丰度较无花带的番茄田提升三倍（p=0.04）。本研究结果明确表明，在番茄田中穿插种植花期错开的芫荽与高粱混合诱赏花带，有助于维持昆虫为农田提供的生态服务功能。