New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
Short communication: Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) "companion plants" can attract
hoverflies, and may reduce pest infestation in cabbages
MICHAEL C. MORRIS
Department of Architecture
and Environmental Systems
Shibaura Institute of Technology
Fukasaku 307, Omiya-shi, Saitama-ken
Japan
email: Michael@sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp
FRANK Y. LI
P. O. Box 227
Christchurch 8015
New Zealand
email: yonghong.li@xtra.co.nz
Abstract Cabbages (
Brassica oleracea) were planted at
distances of 0.5-17.6 m from a strip of coriander (
Coriandrum
sativum) over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 summer seasons in Wellington, New
Zealand, and over the 1998 summer season in Omiya, Japan. Numbers of
Artogeia rapae eggs, non-mining caterpillars (mostly
A. rapae and
larger
Plutella xylostella), aphids (all Aphididae sp.), and immature
syrphids on the cabbages were counted during the coriander flowering period.
Adult hoverflies above the coriander and cabbage rows were counted during the
same period. In Japan, there was a negative correlation between the number of
adult hoverflies above the cabbage rows and their distance from the coriander.
Pest infestation or immature hoverfly numbers did not vary significantly with
distance. During the New Zealand 1998-99 season, aphid and caterpillar
infestation increased with distance, but only early in the season. The results
suggest that coriander may attract hoverflies in large enough numbers to reduce
infestation, but larger-scale studies are necessary to confirm this.
Keywords Syrphidae; Coriandrum sativum; biological
control; cabbages; companion planting
H00001
Received 5 January 2000; accepted 15 May 2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (355K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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