{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,15]],"date-time":"2026-08-15T04:29:51Z","timestamp":1786768191057,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786579200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006407","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Henan","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["252300423039"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["252300423039"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006407","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Young Backbone Teachers Project of Henan University of Science and Technology","award":["2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023"]}]},{"award":["2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05d80kz58","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis, can damage various Rosaceae fruit trees. When using predatory natural enemies for biological control, the effects of the physical characteristics of host plant leaves (such as trichomes) on the functional response of predatory natural enemies remain unclear. We studied the functional response of the predatory thrips, Scolothrips takahashii, to feeding on hawthorn spider mite eggs on five host plants (three apple cultivars: Golden Delicious, Fuji, and New Jonagold; peach; and plum). The results revealed that S. takahashii exhibited a typical type II functional response when feeding on mite eggs on Golden Delicious, peach, and plum, which had low trichome density. In contrast, it shifted to a type III functional response when feeding on mite eggs on the two apple cultivars, New Jonagold and Fuji, which had high trichome density. Additionally, the handling time of thrips in the type III response group was significantly longer than that in the type II response group, and the egg consumption at all prey densities was significantly lower than that in the type II response group. This study indicates that the shift in functional response of S. takahashii from type II to type III was associated with an increase in the density of trichomes on the host plant\u2019s leaves, significantly reducing its predation efficiency. This finding reveals the mechanism by which plant physical traits indirectly regulate the predation strategies of natural enemies by influencing predation behavior, providing an important theoretical basis for evaluating the pest control potential of natural enemies and formulating variety layout in orchard habitats based on functional responses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17080840","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T09:31:09Z","timestamp":1786613469000},"page":"840","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Host Plant Effects on the Functional Response of Scolothrips takahashii to Amphitetranychus viennensis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Pinhong","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Henan Province Ryan Ping An Garden Plant Protection Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou 450001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shien","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2686-5112","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhenjie","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5908-9981","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junfeng","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dingxu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9448-2877","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haibo","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan Key Laboratory of Insect Biology, Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1570-7458.2007.00625.x","article-title":"Direct and Indirect Adverse Effects of Tomato on the Predatory Mite Neoseiulus californicus Feeding on the Spider Mite Tetranychus evansi","volume":"125","author":"Koller","year":"2007","journal-title":"Entomol. 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