Biological Control of Plant Pests in Protected Culture

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2019) | Viewed by 5956

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
National Biological Control Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Stoneville, MS 38776, USA
Interests: behavioral and chemical ecology of natural enemies; biological control; insect colonization; insect-amphibian interactions
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biological control using predators, parasitoids, or pathogens has been recognized as an effective method to control plant pests in agricultural systems, especially in protected culture, i.e., greenhouses. The aim of this special issue is to highlight recent advances in biocontrol research in greenhouses, high tunnels, nurseries, and plantscapes. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts describing research on any aspect of biocontrol in protected culture. Experimental and theoretical approaches to the study of natural enemy behavior, ecology, physiology, or nutriton are encouraged.

Dr. Eric W. Riddick
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biocontrol
  • natural enemies
  • population dynamics
  • semiochemicals
  • intraguild predation
  • host-parasitoid interactions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

15 pages, 1874 KiB  
Review
Efficacy of Two Entomopathogenic Fungi, Metarhizium brunneum, Strain F52 Alone and Combined with Paranosema locustae against the Migratory Grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes, under Laboratory and Greenhouse Conditions
by Wahid H. Dakhel, Alexandre V. Latchininsky and Stefan T. Jaronski
Insects 2019, 10(4), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10040094 - 30 Mar 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5294
Abstract
Grasshopper outbreaks cause significant damage to crops and grasslands in US. Chemical control is widely used to suppress these pests but it reduces environmental quality. Biological control of insect pests is an alternative way to reduce the use of chemical insecticides. In this [...] Read more.
Grasshopper outbreaks cause significant damage to crops and grasslands in US. Chemical control is widely used to suppress these pests but it reduces environmental quality. Biological control of insect pests is an alternative way to reduce the use of chemical insecticides. In this context, two entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium brunneum strain F52 and Paranosema locustae were evaluated as control agents for the pest migratory grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Third-instar grasshoppers, reared in the laboratory, were exposed up to fourteen days to wheat bran treated with different concentrations of each of the fungi alone or the two pathogens combined. In the greenhouse, nymphs were placed individually in cages where they were able to increase their body temperatures by basking in the sun in an attempt to inhibit the fungal infection, and treated with each pathogen alone or in combination. Mortality was recorded daily and presence of fungal outgrowth in cadavers was confirmed by recording fungal mycosis for two weeks’ post-treatment (PT). For combination treatment, the nature of the pathogen interaction (synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effects) was also determined. In laboratory conditions, all treatments except P. locustae alone resulted in grasshopper mortality. The application of the pathogen combinations caused 75% and 77%, mortality for lower and higher concentrations, respectively than each of the pathogens alone. We infer a synergistic effect occurred between the two agents. In greenhouse conditions, the highest mortalities were recorded in combination fungal treatments with a M. brunneum dose (60% mortality) and with a combination of the two pathogens in which M. brunneum was applied at high rate (50%) two weeks after application. This latter combination also exhibited a synergistic effect. Exposure to the P. locustae treatment did not lead to mortality until day 14 PT. We infer that these pathogens are promising for developing a biopesticide formulation for rangeland pest grasshopper management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control of Plant Pests in Protected Culture)
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