Lygus pratensis (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an agricultural pest widely distributed across Europe, China, North Africa, the Middle East, and India. The population of L. pratensis has increased in recent years due to the prolonged reproductive period, high productivity, and strong adaptability of adult L. pratensis, along with other factors such as changes in crop planting schemes. It significantly damages cotton production and adversely affects commercial crops such as alfalfa and fruit trees. Recent studies on the interrelationship between landscape features and pest management have provided new insights for controlling L. pratensis. This paper primarily reviews multiple aspects, including its life history and habits, host plants, pheromones, diapause characteristics, migratory dispersal, the relationship between L. pratensis occurrences and environmental factors, chemical control and resistance, sampling surveys and prevention indicators, ecological control, molecular genetic control, and the ecological effects of farmland landscape patterns on L. pratensis. We focus on the outlook for the conservation effectiveness of farmland landscape patterns on the diversity of natural enemies and the developmental direction of the ecological regulation of L. pratensis. The aim is to develop new control strategies and technologies to enhance the comprehensive control of L. pratensis.

Lygus pratensis (Linnaeus) is an important agricultural pest with a strong ability to move and spread between hosts. However, L. pratensis’ flight potential and factors affecting its flight ability are unclear. We used the insect flight information system (flight mill) to determine the effects of temperature, humidity, age, sex, and mating on L. pratensis’ flight ability in an artificial climate chamber. Temperature and relative humidity significantly affected L. pratensis’ flight ability; however, low and high temperature, as well as low humidity, were unsuitable, and the optimal flight environment was 20–28 °C and 60–75% RH. Lygus pratensis’ flying ability initially increased and then decreased with age and was highest at 10 days old (flight rate: 71.43%; total flight distance: 18.63 ± 1.89 km; total flight time: 6.84 ± 0.60 h). At 15 days old, flight speed was the highest (3.36 ± 0.18 km h⁻¹). Sex had little effect on L. pratensis’ flying ability; it was marginally stronger for females than males, but the difference was insignificant. Mating increased female flying ability but decreased that of males, but the difference was insignificant. Overall, L. pratensis had strong flight dispersal ability, was largely unaffected by sex and mating, and optimal flight conditions were mild temperature and humidity. This knowledge provides a scientific basis for L. pratensis outbreak prediction, prevention, and control.

Lygus pratensis is a major pest of cotton, causing serious damage to cotton production. This study designed species-specific PCR detection primers for L. pratensis, established a detection system to identify L. pratensis DNA in the intestinal contents of predatory natural enemies, and investigated the control potential of four species’ predatory natural enemies against L. pratensis. The results indicated that 826 predatory natural enemies were collected from cotton fields belonging to two classes, five orders, and twelve families. Among these, 9 species of insecta natural enemies accounted for 54.12% of the total number of predatory natural enemies collected, while 14 species of arachnida predatory natural enemies comprised 45.88%. Of the 806 natural enemies tested, 5.58% were found to be positive for L. pratensis, all of which were arachnid predators, specifically Ebrechtella tricuspidata, Xysticus ephippiatus, Hylyphantes graminicola, and Oxyopes sertatus. The predation response of these four spider species to the fourth to fifth instar nymphs and adults of L. pratensis adhered to the Holling II model. The theoretical predation (a′/Th), daily maximum predation rate (T/Th), and searching effect for the fourth to fifth instar nymphs and adults of L. pratensis of the four spider species were assessed. According to the results, the species can be ranked in terms of their predatory and searching efficiency as follows: O. sertatus > E. tricuspidata > X. ephippiatus > H. graminicola. Four species of spiders had the highest theoretical predation against L. pratensis nymphs, ranging from 23.71 to 60.86, and adults, ranging from 22.14 to 50.25. Therefore, these four spider species could be utilized for L. pratensis management. This study identified the main predatory natural enemies of L. pratensis and their pest control capabilities, providing a scientific basis for selecting and utilizing natural enemies in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. This will help promote ecological and green pest control of L. pratensis in cotton-growing areas.

L. pratensis is a significant pest of cotton. Clarifying the intestinal bacterial structure of L. pratensis can provide a theoretical basis for the development of new pest biological control strategies. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was employed to characterize the intestinal bacterial communities across five L. pratensis populations, and the functions of their core metabolic pathways were predicted. The results showed that the intestinal bacterial communities of the five L. pratensis populations comprised 16 phyla, 25 classes, 54 orders, 85 families, 133 genera, and 187 species. Diversity analysis revealed that the diversity of the intestinal bacterial community exhibited a dynamic trend of first increasing and then decreasing during the pest’s growth and development. Specifically, the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices of the nymphal stage were significantly higher than those of the egg and adult stages (p < 0.05). The dominant phylum, class, order, family, genus and species shared by the five groups were Proteobacteria (93.17%), Gammaproteobacteria (48.71%), Rickettsiales (43.83%), Anaplasmataceae (49.39%), Wolbachia (43.83%) and Wolbachia (43.82%). Among them, Acinetobacter was mainly found in the first instar nymph stage, and Serratia was mainly distributed in the fifth instar nymph and female and male adults. Functional prediction results showed that the intestinal bacterial community was mainly enriched in core pathways, including metabolism, genetic information processing, and environmental information processing. This study provides a new target for green prevention and control of L. pratensis and also provides a theoretical basis for further elucidating the succession law and functional mechanism of its gut microbiota.

Lygus pratensis is an important pest of cotton in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Chana. Diapause plays a key role in seasonal survival, population dynamics, and spring population establishment of this species; therefore, understanding the environmental cues regulating diapause is essential for improving population prediction and developing more effective control strategies. In this study, we investigated the effects of temperature and photoperiod on diapause induction in L. pratensis and further examined how temperature, photoperiod, and duration of cold exposure influence diapause termination. Female ovarian development and the proportion of females carrying eggs were examined under different combinations of temperature and photoperiod. The results showed that both temperature and photoperiod significantly affected diapause induction. The highest diapause rate, 88.33%, occurred when adults were reared under a short photoperiod of 9 L:15 D at 16 °C. In contrast, only 3.33% of females entered diapause under a long photoperiod of 15 L:9 D at 20 °C. Diapause termination experiments indicated that temperature significantly affected the time required for diapause termination, but not the final termination rate. Photoperiod also influenced diapause termination at 24 °C, with termination rates of 44.44% under 8 L:16 D and 100% under 16 L:8 D. However, the duration of exposure to low temperature at 4 °C had no significant effect on diapause termination. These findings demonstrate that temperature and photoperiod are the key environmental factors regulating diapause induction and termination in L. pratensis. Moreover, diapause termination in this species appears to be controlled mainly by environmental cues rather than by a required period of cold exposure. This study provides a biological basis for predicting seasonal population occurrence and optimizing management strategies for L. pratensis in cotton-growing regions of Xinjiang.