Temperature is an important environmental factor in agriculture, affecting individual organisms and the entire farmland ecosystem. Global warming has become more tangible, which may negatively affect pest biological control due to the generally weak thermal tolerance of natural enemies. The mirids Cyrtorhinus lividipennis and Tytthus chinensis (Insecta: Hemiptera: Miridae) are important natural predators of planthoppers and leafhoppers in Asian paddy fields. However, the effects of thermal stress on these predators remain poorly understood. We investigated the thermal tolerance, fitness, predation abilities, and transcriptomic response of T. chinensis and C. lividipennis at elevated temperatures. T. chinensis was more heat tolerant than both Nilaparvata lugens (its prey) and C. lividipennis. T. chinensis not only exhibited better development, survival, reproduction, and predation capacities compared with C. lividipennis but also showed stronger competitiveness when the two mirid predators co-persisted under high-temperature conditions. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we sequenced their transcriptomes at different temperatures. Heat shock protein (HSP) genes were identified and analyzed due to their high co-regulation during heat treatment. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that T. chinensis induces HSPs expression quickly and strongly over a wider temperature range in response to heat stress compared with C. lividipennis. Taken together, we highlighted the potential of T. chinensis as a biological control agent in future global warming conditions and provided insight into the thermal adaption of mirid species.

温度是农业中重要的环境因素，影响个体生物和整个农田生态系统。全球变暖变得更加明显，由于天敌的耐热性普遍较弱，这可能会对害虫生物防治产生负面影响。该盲蝽象黑肩绿盲较不安全和Tytthus羊草（昆虫纲：半翅目：盲蝽科）是亚洲稻田稻飞虱，叶蝉的重要天敌。然而，热应激对这些捕食者的影响仍然知之甚少。我们研究了T. chinensis和C. lividipennis在高温下的耐热性、适应性、捕食能力和转录组反应。中华柽柳比Nilaparvata lugens（它的猎物）和C. lividipennis更耐热。与C. lividipennis相比，T. chinensis不仅表现出更好的发育、生存、繁殖和捕食能力，而且当这两种捕食者在高温条件下共同生存时，也表现出更强的竞争力。为了理解潜在的机制，我们在不同温度下对它们的转录组进行了测序。热休克蛋白 ( HSP ) 基因因其在热处理过程中的高度共调控而被鉴定和分析。定量聚合酶链反应结果表明，T. chinensis诱导HSPs与C. lividipennis相比，在更宽的温度范围内快速而强烈地表达以响应热应激。总之，我们强调的潜在红豆杉作为未来全球气候变暖条件下生物控制剂，并提供了深入了解mirid物种的热适应。