Abstract

Phytophagous and beneficial arthropods were inventoried on three traditional aromatic plants, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), basil (Ocimum basilicum), and chives (Allium fistulosum), cropped in separate plots in a field experiment in the Caribbean island of Martinique. The same inventory was made on tomato plots, as a culture of association. Arthropods were collected using D-vac suction and Pitfall traps. Our results showed that hemipterans and dipterans dominated in D-vac suction samples with a high abundance of hemipterans on basil and of dipterans on tomato. Pitfall trap sampling revealed a high abundance of ants (mainly of the genus Pheidole) on all four crops. Aromatic plants had a significant positive effect on the abundance of both phytophagous and beneficial arthropods, while arthropod composition varied almost not at all between plant species. The Shannon index of basil and lemongrass were the highest. Aromatic plants may be used to increase population of beneficials in horticultural crops.