SYMPATRY OF ORIUS INSIDIOSUS AND O. PUMILIO (HEMIPTERA: ANTHOCORIDAE) IN NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA

Two closely related species of Anthocoridae, the minute pirate bugs Orius insidiosus (Say) and O. pumilio (Champion), were collected together from false Queen Anne’s lace/ large bullwort (Ammi majus) planted on an organic farm in Gainesville, Alachua Co., FL., over a period of 5 successive weeks. The presumptive prey on the false Queen Anne’s lace was a single species of thrips, Frankliniella bispinosa (Morgan). In the first 4 weekly collections from the flower heads, the densities of O. insidiosus adults were 2.7-fold higher than those of O. pumilio. No eggs or nymphs of either species were observed on the plants. Sex ratios (males:females) of 2.7 and 1.0 were observed for O. insidiosus and O. pumilio, respectively. A colony of O. insidiosus was established from field-collected specimens. The sex ratio of the F1 generation from this colony was 1.0, suggesting that the skewed field sex ratio was not a genetic phenomenon. These data demonstrate that these sympatric predators coexist at least temporarily, feeding on pests of the false Queen Anne’s lace.