Identifying Beneficial Insects & Integrating Biological Control - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Identifying Beneficial Insects & Integrating Biological Control Practices Alana Respondek Halifax Seed Co.

Identifying Beneficial Insects & Integrating Biological Control Practices Alana Respondek Halifax Seed Co.

Agenda  Biological Control Agents  Greenhouse Pests  Outdoor Pests  Naturally Occurring Beneficials  Microbial Insecticides & fungicides  Pollination & Bumble bees  Contacts for more information

Definition of Biological Control  The manipulation of natural enemies of pests in an effort to reduce pest populations to economically tolerable levels

Biological Control Agents Include  Predators  Parasitoids  Microbial insecticides  Microbial fungicides  Botanical Insecticides & insecticidal soaps

Predators  Kill by direct contact – death is immediate  Consume many prey  Larger in size than victims  Have chewing or sucking mouth parts  Larvae or adults can act as predators  Ex. Lady bugs, praying mantis, lacewings

Parasitoids  Lay eggs on or in the bodies of the host pest  The host will die  The parasitoid is smaller in size than the host they invade  Parasitoids usually attack eggs, larvae and pupae, rarely adults  Ex. Hymenoptera (parasitic wasps), Diptera (flies)

Microbial Insecticides & Fungicides  Liquid product with either bacteria or fungi in suspension  Spray onto pests  Very specific products – only tend to kill one or two diseases or insects  Ex. BTK & Serenade

Botanical Insecticides  Liquid form is sprayed on  Tend to kill several different soft bodied insects  Contact killer, very low residual  Ex. Pyrethrums and insecticidal soaps

Greenhouse Pests  Thrips – Amblyseius  Spider mite – cucumeris & Phytoseiulus persimillis Amblyseius swirskii  Mealy Bug –  Aphids – Aphidius Cryptolaemus colemani, Aphidius ervi, montrouzieri Chrysopa carnea larva, lady bugs, praying mantis  Whitefly – Encarsia formosa & Amblyseius swirskii

Thrips  Description:  Life Cycle  Small, elongated, 1 mm, greyish or yellowish to  Female deposits eggs brown colour into leaf cuticle  2 species: western flower  Larvae are very mobile & thrips (Frankliniella immediately start to feed occidentallis) and onion  Total development time: thrips (Thrips tabaci) 20 days @ 20 o C to 12  days @ 30 o C  1 female can produce 200 young

Thrips  Damage  Suck plant sap out of plant cells  Silvery colouring on leaves  Excretement is dark  Deformation of fruit of pepper, cucumber  Discolouration of ornamentals  Vector viruses

Thrips  Control Products  Amblyseius cucumeris  Amblyseius swirskii

Amblyseius cucumeris  Predatory mite  Adults: Beige, <1mm  High mobility on underside of leaf or in flower  Female mates several times per year  Lays a few eggs/day  Development from egg to adult: 8-11 days @ 25 o C  Adults live for 3 weeks  Cucumeris pierce their prey & suck them empty

Amblyseius cucumeris  Application  Apply when air humidity  Amblyseius system: is >65%  2 x 500000 per ha  Allow mites to adjust to  Apply within 1-2 weeks ambient temperature before use  Amblyseius breeding  Sprinkle mites equally system throughout plants on  4 ABS boxes per ha leaves or rockwool  Apply at first bloom  Place boxes equally – attach to plants using hangers on box

Amblyseius cucumeris  Packaging  Amblyseius Breeding System (ABS)  Amblyseius System A breeder sachet  Packed with 50,000  contains bran on which a adults in a 1L sprinkler fungus grows that will tube with bran as carrier feed mold mites $27.00 + SH  Mold mites are eaten by  A.cucumeris 1 breeder box = 1000  A.cucumeris 100 sachets/ box =  $34.00 + SH 250 sachets/ box =  $77.25 + SH

Amblyseius Vermiculite System  Packaging  Amblyseius – Vermiculite System  Developed to blow A. cucumeris into the crop with a sprayer  Useful for ornamentals  20,000 mites per L  $20.75 + SH

Amblyseius swirskii (Swirskii system)  Predatory mite  Adult: orange-yellow oval mite  Optimal development 25 – 28 o C, RH @ 70%  Effective at temperatures between 15 – 40 o C  Total life cycle from egg to adult 5-6 days  Females will lay 2 eggs  Prefers upper portion of a pollinating crop

Amblyseius swirskii  Application  Swirskii System  Disperse 20 pieces/m 2 preventively  Disperse 100 pieces/m 2 at first sign of thrips  Swirskii Breeding System  1 sachet / 2m 2  Repeat every 6 weeks

Amblyseius swirskii  Packaging  Swirskii Breeding System  Swirskii System Breeding sachets  10,000 in 1L pot with  250 A. swirskii/sachet vermiculite & bran   $31.50 + SH 100 sachets/box, 300  A.swirskii / sachet 25,000 in 1L pot with   $78.00 + SH vermiculite & bran 500 sachets/box, 300 A.  $74.75 + SH  swirskii / sachet  $355.25 + SH

Aphids  Description:  Life Cycle  Many generations per yr  Adults: 1.2-2.6 mm  Give birth to live young  Small oval body  Hibernates in & on plants  Yellow, green, black and in the greenhouse  Antennae are long too

Aphids  Damage  Suck plant sap out of plant cells  Excretment is sticky – mould growth occurs  Transmit viruses

Aphids  Control products  Aphidius colemani  Aphidius ervi  Chrysopa carnea larva  Lady bugs  Praying mantis

Aphidius colemani  Parasitic wasp  Slender black insect with brown legs & long antennae  2 mm in size  Female lays eggs in adult or nymph aphid  Total development takes 14 days at 21 o C

Aphidius colemani  Application  Packaging  Tubes of 500 mummies  Apply preventively @ weekly intervals of 0.15 $25.00 + SH  aphidius / m 2  Tubes of 5000 mummies  Increase to 0.5-1 $216.25 + SH  aphidius / m 2 per week for 3 weeks

Aphidius ervi  Parasitic wasp  2 x bigger than A. colemani  Black slender body, brown legs, long antenna  Female lays eggs (350/ lifetime) into aphids  Development time: 26 days @ 14 o C, 13.5 days @ 20 o C

Aphidius ervi  Application  Packaging  Tube of 250 mummies  Apply at first sign of aphids $84.70 + SH   Tube of 1000 mummies  Spread on leaves in morning or evening $236.00 + SH   Apply 0.1-0.25 / m 2  Increase to 2 / m 2 in hotspots

Chrysopa carnea (Green lacewing)  Predator  Adults are light green insects, transparent wings  In spring, adults lay 20 eggs / day  Larvae eat 50 aphids / day

Chrysopa carnea  Application  Packaging  500 pieces in cardboard  Apply in spring multicells  5 larvae / m 2 repeat  $36.25 + SH every 2 weeks  Hotspots: 40 larvae / m 2 , 2 applications

Ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens)  Safe & effective way to control aphids  Indoor or outdoor use  Available June – Sept  Larvae eat more aphids than adults

Ladybugs  Application:  Keep dormant in fridge until ready to release  Release in evening  Sprinkle on soil and plant foliage  Release a few at a time over 7 days  Wet foliage so ladybugs can have a drink  Rate: 1000 / 50 m 2 (550 ft 2 )  1000 ladybugs - $25.00  4500 ladybugs - $44.95

Praying Mantis  Purchase an egg case (50-400 eggs)  Eggs hatch and young disperse into garden  May take 2-8 weeks to hatch  Release 3 egg cases / 450 m 2 (5000 sq ft)  1 egg case = $25.00

Whitefly  Description  Life Cycle  Female deposits oval eggs  Adults: 2 mm, white on underside of leaf colour, wings horizontal  Eggs turn black in 2-3 dys and overlap slightly  Larvae and pupal stage not very mobile  On tomato: egg to adult 20 days @ 27 o C, 38 dys @ 17 o C  Temp & host plant determine # eggs (100 tomato, 200 cucumber, 300 eggplant)

Whitefly  Damage  Control Products  Larvae & adults suck  Encarsia formosa plant sap  Amblyseius swirskii  Excretment is sweet, sticky substance  Sooty mould develops on leaves

Encarsia formosa  Parasitic wasp – injects an egg into its host  Adults: 0.6 mm long, black with yellow abdomen  Takes 21 days for adult to emerge from whitefly, if temp is 23 o C

Encarsia formosa  Female deposits 10-15 eggs / day  Female lives for 2-3 weeks  Adults feed on the body content of whitefly larvae & on the honeydew  During lifetime female parasitizes 250-450 whitefly larvae and kills 30-70 by host feeding

Encarsia formosa  Application  Packaging  Encarsia system cards  Crops: eggplant, tomato, cucumber, strawberry, 50 pupae/card, 5 cards/  pk rose  $37.00 +SH  Introduce Encarsia every 100 pupae/card, 10  week after whitefly cards/pk detected  $37.00 +SH  Apply between 18-30 o C  Loose Pupae in Tubes 5000 loose pupae/tube  $37.00 +SH 

Two Spotted Spider Mite  Description  Life Cycle  Female deposits round  Adult is small, 2mm eggs on underside of leaf  2 red dots on its back  A larvae with 6 legs hatches  Development time varies Rose leaf: 7 dys @  30 o C, 17 dys @ 20 o C  Live in cracks in greenhouse  Prefer warm, dry weather