Abstract: The omnivorous predator, Nesidiocoris tenuis, is an important natural enemy of various insect pests. It can survive by feeding on some plants when prey is scarce. Thus, data of performance of N. tenuis on various plants and in the presence/absence of prey are essential to the development of banker plant systems for utilizing this predator in biological control of insect pests. In this study, we tested for the performance of N. tenuis feeding on three nectar resource plants (sesame, alyssum, and buckwheat) and two crops (cotton and pakchoi), using detached leaves with or without Bemisia tabaciadults as prey and intact plants. Our results showed that in the absence of the prey with detached leaves, 85.2% and 80.0% of the N. tenuis nymphs developed into adults on sesame and pakchoi, with developmental durations of 15.0 and 19.2 days, respectively. In contrast, the N. tenuis nymphs only reached the 4^th, 3^rd, 3^rd and 2^nd instars on buckwheat, alyssum, cotton and the water control, respectively. In the presence of the prey, the N. tenuis nymphs could develop into adults on detached leaves of all the five plant species, with the shortest nymphal developmental duration of 11.8 days and the highest proportion of eclosion of 83.3% on sesame. The survival and development of the N. tenuis nymphs on intact plants of the five plant species were similar to those on the detached leaves, and only the nymphs on sesame and pakchoi developed into adults at rates of 93.3% and 66.7%, respectively. The sex ratio of N. tenuis was approximately 0.6 under all conditions tested, and there was no significant difference in the nymphal developmental duration between male and female insects. The feasibility of establishing banker plant systems with this important omnivorous predator for the biological control of insect pests is discussed.

Key words: nectar resource plant, banker plant system, non-crop host plant, prey availability, biological control