Biocontrol in field conifers
Jana Lee
Agricultural Research Service
Horticultural Crops Research Unit
Scouting for beneficials
• Some common good guys
• Laminated sheet & pocket guide
Aphid biocontrol in field conifers
• Beneficials with flowers (Lee, Rosetta)
• Beneficials with MeSA (Lee)
• Others….
UC IPM
ID mummified aphids, hole in scale
Commercially available
UC IPM
Predatory midges
Aphidioletes azimidyza
• Eat aphids,
mealybugs,
scales
• ID small fly
• Orangeyellow-green
headless grub
• Commercially
available
Green and brown lacewings
• Eat aphids, eggs and other soft-bodied
insects
• Available commercially to release
• Successful trials for grape leafhopper and
conifer aphids
UC IPM
Lacewing ID
UC IPM
Lady beetle ID
ID to species
Convergent
lady beetle
“C7”
7 spots
White sides on
prothorax
Multicolored
Asian lady
beetle
Harmonia
UC IPM
Hover (syrphid) flies
• Eat
aphids
• ID beelike, or
grub
UC IPM
Minute pirate (Orius) bugs
Commercially available
bugguide.net
Deraeocoris sp. (predatory mirid)
Big-eyed bugs
UC IPM
Damsel bugs
True bugs
bugguide.net
• Straw-like mouthpart for sucking the life
out of prey
Carabid (ground) beetles
Michigan State U.
D Kavanaugh
• Eat snails/slugs, weed seeds, insects at all
stages, and aphids that fall and each other
• Common, sensitive to soil-insecticides but
nearby refuge vegetation can help
syngenta-bioline.co.uk
MSU
Eduwebs.org
Rove beetles
• Eat insect eggs and
larvae, mites, snails
• ID usually < ¾ inch
• Slender black, brown,
orange
• Run fast, arch back
Ants
C. Chien
• Eat insects from an area,  Trouble for my
aphid colonies
• Ant nests placed in citrus orchards in
China
• ID
• Problematic
for biological
control?
Scouting for beneficials
• Some common good guys
• Laminated sheet & pocket guide
Aphid biocontrol in field conifers
• Providing beneficials with their needs
• Attracting beneficials with odors
• Others….
Farmscaping
What needs do natural enemies have?
• Overwintering sites
• Supplemental foods – pollen,
nectar
• Shelter
Design habitat so as to provide for the
needs of natural enemies
Approaches
• Perennial refugia – beetle banks,
conservation buffers, hedgerows
Approaches
• Perennial refugia
• Artificial- sprays
• Annual vegetation - cover cropping,
floral strips, potted flowers?
www.practicalwinery.com
Insectary Plants in Spruce
Pollen and nectar attract and enhance longevity of
natural enemies
Potential pitfalls? …same for pest insects, weedy
Can it work ? (2006-Rosetta)
Block I (not drawn to scale)
Spruce with
Coriander
Coriander
Control
Control
Control
Spruce with
Alyssum
Control
Coriander
Coriander
Alyssum
Alyssum
Coriander
~15 m
~112 m
~15 m
Spruce only
Control
~5 m
Alyssum
Alyssum
• Weekly samples Mar - Dec
• Visually inspect 10 or 5 spruce trees per plot
• # of hover fly larvae & eggs higher in plots with coriander
• +/- aphids similar
More exploration in 2008
• Flower pots interspersed in a line
b/n spruce
• Alyssum + coriander plot vs.
control, 5 reps
• Visual count of aphids, vacuum
flowers, sticky traps
• 680 ft separation between plots w/in
block
c
flower
f
control
c
f
c
f
c
f
1.6
Predators
Treatment P = 0.92,
week P < 0.0001,
Treatment*week P =
0.9, block P < 0.0001
flower
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
7
Mean mummy per plant + SE
Treatment P = 0.32, week P
< 0.0001, Treatment*week P
= 0.39, block P = 0.17
Mean predators per plant + SE
1.4
control
2-Apr 22-Apr 12-May 1-Jun 21-Jun 11-Jul 31-Jul 20-Aug 9-Sep 29-Sep
6
Mummified aphids
5
control
flower
4
3
2
1
0
2-Apr
22-Apr 12-May 1-Jun 21-Jun 11-Jul
31-Jul 20-Aug 9-Sep 29-Sep
Scouting for beneficials
• Some common good guys
• Laminated sheet & pocket guide
Aphid biocontrol in field conifers
• Providing beneficials with their needs
• Attracting beneficials with odors
• Others….
Odors attracting natural enemies
Herbivore-induced volatiles
methyl salicylate (MeSA)
MeSA
Questions
??
MeSA
No food
MeSA
• Flowers or artificial food to keep natural enemies satisfied ?
• Good for point of release ?
In spruce
• MeSA impact natural enemies & pests?
• Yellow pan traps
• Shoot tip samples
• Clear sticky cards
• Pest damage?
• Spatial pattern?
• <1m
• ~4-7 m away
2009 n = 4
2010 n = 5
3 lures in 1800ft2
Dosage = 73 lures/acre
or 180 lures/ha
MeSA increase beneficials?
Repeated measures ANOVA: Mummies 2009: treatment P = 0.082, distance P = 0.18,
time P < 0.001, treatment*time P = 0.063; Pseudopraon 2010: treatment P = 0.081,
distance P = 0.074, time P < 0.001, treatment*time P < 0.001
Spruce: Pest
damage
2009 – less damage in MeSA 2010 – more damage in MeSA
Scouting for beneficials
• Some common good guys
• Laminated sheet & pocket guide
Aphid biocontrol in field conifers
• Providing beneficials with their needs
• Attracting beneficials with odors
• Others….
Aphid biocontrol in Christmas tree
Acknowledgements
• Robin Rosetta
• Christina Fieland, Nikko Fujita, Dani
Lightle, Emily Parent, Thomas Whitney,
Jeff Wong
• Participating Growers
• J.F. Schmidt Foundation, USDA CRIS
5358-22000-037-00D