Beneficial Insects Associated with Newly Established Native Perennial Plant Border Rows in Central Kentucky: Preliminary Results.

Native perennial plants are beneficial to the environment because they create habitat for wildlife species including beneficial insects.  Attracting beneficial insects in a farmscaping approach can be important in trying to establish sustainable methods of insect pest management in vegetable and fruit crops and for providing other types of ecological services.  It has been suggested that non crop vegetation such as grasses and floral strips planted as crop field margins can enhance populations of predaceous arthropods and parasitoids.  Thus, the objective of this study was to compare insect groups colonizing newly established perennial border plots vs. non-mowed mixed grass/weedy pasture border plots.  This study was conducted at the Kentucky State University Research and Demonstration Farm in Franklin Co., KY.  Sixteen plant species including big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana), New England Aster (Aster novae-anglica), side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), gray-headed coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), rattlesnake master (Erygium yuccifolium), common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), slender mountain mint (Pycantheum tennuifolium), little bluesteam (Schizacharium scoparium), and prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) were established in 25 m X 2 m border rows replicated three times during June and July of 2011.  Insects were sampled using four 15 cm X 15 cm sticky traps mounted to tobacco sticks in each border row.  Lady beetles, solitary bees in the genus Agapostemon, soldier beetles (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) and green lacewings (Chrysoperla sp.) were caught.  Results will be discussed relative to the two types of border rows.