Abstract:

The insect community structure and temporalspatial niche of dominant species in a peach orchard were investigated in Beijing suburb. The results showed that the insect community was abundant, which including 9 order, 25 families, 34 species, and the dominant species were Carposina niponensis, Pseudaula caspis pentagona, Dichocrocis punctiferalis, Lyonetia clerkella, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona, Myzus persicae, Orius sauteri, Leis axyridis, Epistrophe balteata, Chrysopa phyllochroma and Chilocorus rubidus. The species number, individuals of species, diversity indices, and evenness changed with time. In pest subcommunity, the niche breadth of Pseudaulacaspis pentagona was the biggest, successively followed by Myzus persicae, Lyonetia clerkella, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona, Dichocrocis punctiferalis and Carposina niponensis. In natural enemies subcommunity the niche breadth of Chilocorus rubidus was the biggest, successively followed by Leis axyridis, Epistrophe balteata, Chrysopa Phyllochroma, Orius sauteri. The niche of Chilocorus rubidusoverlapped with insect pests more than that of other natural enemies did with insect pests, and the synchrony in temporal dimension and similarity in spatial dimension between Chilocorus rubidus and Pseudaulacaspis pentagonawere better than other enemy insects. The results indicated that these natural enemies populations should be protected and utilized to control pests in peach orchards.

Key words: peach orchard, insect community, diversity, niche