Effect of a flowering trap crop on insect pests and their natural enemies

Abstract: Yellow rocket, Barbarea vulgaris R. Br. (Brassicaceae), is a biennial plant that hasbeen proposed as a trap crop for the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera:Plutellidae). Since P. xylostella is the most damaging insect pest of cruciferous crops throughoutthe world and it can easily develop resistance to insecticides, trap cropping is a desirabletechnique for P. xylostella management as an alternative to insecticide use. Here we study thepotential of flowering B. vulgaris to attract aphidophagous syrphid flies and to increase thepopulations of parasitoids associated with P. xylostella in Spain.