BENEFICIAL AND PEST INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH TEN FLOWERING PLANT SPECIES GROWN IN QUÉBEC, CANADA

Summary

Preventive measures are very important in organic agriculture to minimize pest problems. Conservation biological control is one preventive approach. It includes habitat manipulation through which the agroecosystem may be designed to encourage the activity of beneficial insects. The use of flowering strips is one way to do that. This 3-year study was performed on the Organic Agriculture Innovation Platform in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec. Canada. It comprises data on insect abundance and composition on ten flowering plant species. Data are collected on beneficial insects such as coccinellid predators and predatory bugs. Are also included in this study observations and counts of insect pests which could also be attracted to this flowering plant species and build up in numbers close to the crop which we are aiming to protect.