Thrips (Thysanoptera) associated with narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L., 1753) intercropped with spring triticale (× Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus, 1927).

The aim of this study was to determine thrips abundance, species composition and seasonal dynamics on narrow-leafed lupin intercropped with spring triticale in different growing conditions. Thrips were studied at the Experimental Research Station at Pawłowice, near Wrocław, Lower Silesia, Poland, during the period 2010-2012. The experiment was designed as a split-plot with four replicates for each mixture of plants. Lupin and triticale were sown in three different proportions. For determination of thrips species composition narrow leafed lupin plants were collected from the central part of each plot when plants were at the full blooming stage. In the laboratory larvae and adults were identified to species level. During the whole lupin growing season, insects were also counted weekly on 10 consecutive plants in the middle row of each plot. In two of the three years of the study, significantly more thrips were collected from lupin plants grown as single crop. There were no significant differences in the number of these insects between lupin-triticale mixtures. In the three years of the study a total of 2247 thrips individuals were collected on lupin plants at the full blooming stage (BBCH 65); 2237 belonging to 17 species, and 10 individuals, because of damage, were classified to the genus range. In each treatment Frankliniella intonsa and Aeolothrips intermedius were the dominant species. Thrips tabaci also occurred in great numbers on lupin plants. Aeolothrips intermedius, a predatory species, was found mainly in the first or second instar larvae. The percentage of this predatory species in the total number of thrips recorded in each treatment was much higher in lupin-triticale mixtures than in the single