Interactions between the omnivorous bug Nesidiocoris tenuis (Heteroptera: Miridae) and the tomato pests Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Phthorimaea absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): predation, phytophagy, and prey preference.

Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Heteroptera: Miridae) is a zoophytophagous bug that can derive nutrients from 3 trophic levels: plants, herbivorous arthropods, and other predators. On tomato, besides damaging the plants as they feed, might the mirid also forage on pest species and repel pests. In greenhouse and laboratory experiments, we investigated the functional response of the bug, its prey preference, and its influence on the oviposition potentials of 2 major pest species Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Phthorimaea absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) on tomato Solanum lycopersicum L.