Do we use a ‘bouquet’ or a ‘KISS’ to win a natural enemy’s heart?

Abstract

There is a controversy surrounding the approach used to provide flowers in conservation biological control. One approach involves the provision of a single flower species (‘KISS’), while the other involves multiple flower species (‘bouquet’). We compared these approaches and found no differences in their effect on natural enemy survival and pest control. However, the complex mixture patch conserved a greater diversity of beneficial species and bloomed over a longer period, but did not improve pest control.