Effects of peanut/cotton intercropping on insect community diversity and correlation

To explore the influences of peanut/cotton intercropping patterns on biodiversity and pest control capabilities.

A study on the effects of peanut/cotton intercropping on the diversity of insect communities and the control of major pests was carried out.

The results indicated that the introduction of cotton into peanut fields significantly enhanced the diversity and richness index of the insect community (P < 0.05). From the perspective of natural enemies, the occurrence number and species number of natural enemies in intercropping areas increased significantly by 126.58% and 77.27% on average (P<0.05), and the diversity and richness index also increased significantly (P<0.05). From the perspective of pests, after the introduction of cotton in peanut field, the number of insect individuals and species decreased by 66.82% and 8.33% on average in the intercropping peanut area, both significantly decreased (P<0.05). However, the number of Miridae pests in the intercropping area increased by 55.27% compared with the peanut monoculture. Further analysis of the occurrence dynamics of important peanut pests, Thysanoptera and Aphis craccivora, revealed that the quantities of both pests in the intercropping peanut area decreased significantly, and the number of Orius sauteri per hundred plants in the intercropping peanut area was significantly negatively correlated with the number of trips per hundred plants (log); the number of Coccinellidae per hundred plants was significantly negatively correlated with the number of Aphis craccivora per hundred plants (log), confirming the correlation between natural enemies and pests.

This research demonstrated that peanut/cotton intercropping enhanced insect biodiversity, increased the biodiversity of the natural enemy community, and achieved pest control in the intercropping peanut area. Meanwhile, precautions should be taken against the expansion of the host range of individual pests caused by intercropping; further research is needed on the investigation of the diversity of insect communities in the cotton area.