Crop traits influencing abundance and distribution of rice-associated pentatomoids and trophic guilds to unveil potential pests

Abstract

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world´s population and provides7 around 20% of the plant-based calories consumed by humans. Pentatomoids are8 important in Neotropical rice paddies because they group several main crop9 pests. A better understanding of the relationships between these species and10 crop traits influencing their abundance is needed to generate pest prediction tools11 and crop management strategies. Here, we present information on the12 abundance and richness of Pentatomoidea concerning relevant crop13 characteristics: phenology, seasons (temporal), rice varieties and plot zones14 (local). This allowed us to measure whether these crop traits influenced the15 abundance of this group of insects throughout the rice-growing cycle in early and16 late sown plots. We also included an analysis of trophic guilds and species crop17 importance to account for potential pests. We found that three crop traits stood18 out as the most critical in determining the interactions of phytophagous19 pentatomoids with rice plants and that early planting helps to reduce insect20 abundance in paddies. Our results also show that the stem-feeding guild21 concentrated the highest number of species, of which one is a main pest, and22 three are potential pests reported in other countries but have yet to be in23 Argentina. Given the importance of the stem-feeding guild in rice paddies, it is24 necessary to develop monitoring to determine whether any of these potential pest25 species could replace the main crop pests, especially under climate change26 scenarios that could provide the right conditions for the emergence of new pests.