Foraging behavior of the minute pirate bug, Orius insidiosus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), was investigated. Specifically, we studied the attraction of O. insidious to cues emitted by 1) its prey, the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and 2) by pepper plants infested with F. occidentalis. Responses to thrips cues and herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) emitted by pepper were assessed by olfactometer tests. We found that O. insidiosus was attracted by larval tracks from western flower thrips. In the olfactometer experiments, we tested the response of O. insidiosus to HIPVs emitted from a single vs combination of two pepper varieties. We found that attraction of O. insidiosus to HIPVs was higher when exposed to two varieties compared to a single variety.
