The increasing diversity of flowering plants near greenhouses raises the density of thrip population, including potential pest species such as Thrips tabaci and Thrips fuscipennis. This is evident from research by WUR titled "Biodiversity around the greenhouse and its effects
on pests and natural enemies". The extent to which these populations migrate into greenhouses is not clear and will need to be further investigated. The flower samples show that there is a great variation in attractiveness to thrips among plant species. This offers opportunities to select plant species that are not very attractive to thrips while also being good host plants for Orius.
This research shows that in addition to contributing to the general recovery of biodiversity, there is also a lot of potential for functional biodiversity where the increased numbers of natural enemies contribute to the control of pests in and around greenhouses. The extent to which this can actually be realized without running too many risks of increased pest pressure will need to be further investigated.
Source: WUR