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Insects
Special Issues
Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems
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Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Pest and Vector Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 13886

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonio Masetti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, v.le G. Fanin 42, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: conservation biological control; arthropod diversity in agroecosystems; integrated pest management
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Burgio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, DISTAL, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Fanin 42, 40127 Bologna, BO, Italy
Interests: integrated pest management; functional biodiversity; insect biodiversity conservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

The conservation and enhancement of naturally occurring predators and parasitoids of crop pests are paramount for sustainable agriculture. This can be achieved by matching habitat management with pest suppression techniques and agronomic practices not detrimental to natural enemies. This Special Issue will focus on recent advances and applications toward the inclusion of conservation biological control in advanced IPM strategies and organic farming.

We welcome original research articles as well as reviews and meta-analyses dealing with:

- Habitat management practices at different spatial scales to designing areas surrounding crops to provide natural enemies with alternative food sources, overwintering sites or refugees from agricultural disturbances;

- Impact of agronomic practices (such as tillage, cover cropping, etc.) on natural enemies;

- Field and laboratory studies on insecticides selectivity, including so-called reduced-risk insecticides and biopesticides;

- Mitigation methods to decrease the impact of pest suppression techniques on natural enemies;

- Applications of plant elicitors to maximize the “attract and reward” method;

- System and multicomponent approaches to enhance conservation biological control.

Dr. Antonio Masetti
Prof. Giovanni Burgio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • habitat management
  • predators
  • parasitoids
  • selectivity
  • pest suppression
  • non-crop habitats

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2383 KiB  
Article
Groundcovers and Rain Shelters Alter Co-Occurrence Patterns among Ground Beetle Communities in an Organic Raspberry Crop
by Gaétan Moreau, Charles Comeau and Jean-Pierre Privé
Insects 2022, 13(5), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13050413 - 27 Apr 2022
Viewed by 1797
Abstract
The use of rain shelters and reflective groundcovers has been shown to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of organic fruit crops prone to rain-driven epidemics of phytopathogens. Here, we tested whether these structures affect communities of epigean species. To this end, we [...] Read more.
The use of rain shelters and reflective groundcovers has been shown to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of organic fruit crops prone to rain-driven epidemics of phytopathogens. Here, we tested whether these structures affect communities of epigean species. To this end, we studied rain shelters and white, synthetic reflective groundcovers placed in a red raspberry organic cropping system in New Brunswick, Canada, during two subsequent summers to assess their independent and combined effects on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). 18,445 ground beetles belonging to 54 species were collected. Rain shelters and reflective groundcovers altered patterns of ground beetle species richness, activity density and functional diversity compared to the control, but to a limited extent. Thus, this study suggests that these structures, which have known benefits against phytopathogens, have no detrimental impact on epigean fauna. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems)
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8 pages, 421 KiB  
Communication
Conservation of Non-Pest Whiteflies and Natural Enemies of the Cabbage Whitefly Aleyrodes proletella on Perennial Plants for Use in Non-Crop Habitats
by Sebastian Laurenz and Rainer Meyhöfer
Insects 2021, 12(9), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12090774 - 29 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2343
Abstract
Aleyrodes proletella causes severe economic damage to several Brassica crops. Its naturally occurring enemies often immigrate late in the season or appear in low numbers on cabbage. This field study aims to permanently increase the local abundance of A. proletella’s natural enemies [...] Read more.
Aleyrodes proletella causes severe economic damage to several Brassica crops. Its naturally occurring enemies often immigrate late in the season or appear in low numbers on cabbage. This field study aims to permanently increase the local abundance of A. proletella’s natural enemies by providing the non-pest whitefly Aleyrodes lonicerae as an alternative and overwintering host/prey. Therefore, the population dynamics of natural enemies on different perennial herbaceous plants pre-infested with A. lonicerae were determined at two field locations over two winter periods. Most A. lonicerae colonized (on average 166.22 puparia per m²) and overwintered (342.19 adults per m²) on wood avens Geum urbanum. Furthermore, the abundance of A. proletella main parasitoid Encarsia tricolor (28.50 parasitized puparia per m²) and spiders (12.13 per m²) was 3–74 times and 3–14 times higher, respectively, on G. urbanum compared to the other experimental plants. Conclusively, G. urbanum pre-infested with A. lonicerae permanently promoted natural enemies of A. proletella by serving as shelter, reproduction, and overwintering habitat. A potential implementation of G. urbanum in conservation biological control strategies (e.g., tailored flower strips, hedgerows) against A. proletella are discussed and suggestions for future research are given. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems)
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8 pages, 1596 KiB  
Article
Establishment of a Faba Bean Banker Plant System with Predator Orius strigicollis for the Control of Thrips Dendrothrips minowai on Tea Plants under Laboratory Conditions
by Chang-Rong Zhang, Mei Liu, Fei-Xue Ban, Xiao-Li Shang, Shao-Lan Liu, Ting-Ting Mao, Xing-Yuan Zhang and Jun-Rui Zhi
Insects 2021, 12(5), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12050397 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2371
Abstract
The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the [...] Read more.
The stick tea thrip Dendrothrips minowai (Priesner) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a destructive pest in tea plantations in south and southwest China. To control this pest, a non-crop banker plant system was developed using a polyphagous predator Orius strigicollis (Poppius) (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) with the black bean aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as an alternative prey and the faba bean Vicia faba as the banker plant to support the predator in targeting the pest. The fitness of A. fabae on tea plants and faba bean was evaluated to determine its host specificity. Moreover, the control efficacy of the banker plant system on D. minowai on tea plants was tested in the laboratory and compared with that of direct release of O. strigicollis. The experiments showed that faba bean was an excellent non-crop host for A. fabae because, while the aphid population increased quickly on faba bean, it could only survive for up to 9 days on tea plants. Compared with direct release of O. strigicollis, lower densities of pest were observed when introducing the banker plant system. Our results indicate that this banker plant system has the potential to be implemented in the field to improve the control of the pest thrips. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems)
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10 pages, 608 KiB  
Article
Comparison of New Kairomone-Based Lures for Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Italy and USA
by Michele Preti, Alan L. Knight, Riccardo Favaro, Esteban Basoalto, Marco Tasin and Sergio Angeli
Insects 2021, 12(1), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12010072 - 15 Jan 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2997
Abstract
Studies were conducted during the period 2019/2020 to evaluate the effectiveness of four lures for codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) in pome fruits in Italy and the USA. Multi-component blends of sex pheromone ((E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol, PH), pear ester (( [...] Read more.
Studies were conducted during the period 2019/2020 to evaluate the effectiveness of four lures for codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) in pome fruits in Italy and the USA. Multi-component blends of sex pheromone ((E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol, PH), pear ester ((E,Z)-2,4-ethyl decadienoate, PE), (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT), and pyranoid linalool oxide (6-ethenyl-2,2,6-trimethyloxan-3-ol, LOX) were loaded in either a halobutyl elastomer septum or a PVC matrix and always used in combination with acetic acid (AA) loaded in a closed membrane co-lure. Total moth capture was significantly greater with the PVC than the septum lure loaded with PH/PE + AA in both countries. Female capture in the USA study was significantly greater for 8 weeks in traps baited with the PE/DMNT/LOX blend + AA co-lure than with other lures and adding PH to this blend in a PVC lure significantly reduced female capture. In contrast, female capture in Italy did not differ among lures and counts were similar in both apple and pear crops treated with or without mating disruption. These results suggest that the effectiveness of ‘female removal’ strategies to manage codling moth may be geographically limited and further comparisons are needed in other production regions and in walnut. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems)
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14 pages, 1046 KiB  
Article
Influence of Cover Crop Termination on Ground Dwelling Arthropods in Organic Vegetable Systems
by Laura Depalo, Giovanni Burgio, Serena Magagnoli, Daniele Sommaggio, Francesco Montemurro, Stefano Canali and Antonio Masetti
Insects 2020, 11(7), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11070445 - 15 Jul 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3327
Abstract
A key aspect in cover crop management is termination before the cash crop is planted. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of termination methods on ground-dwelling arthropods. The conventional mechanical termination method—i.e., green manuring by means of a disc [...] Read more.
A key aspect in cover crop management is termination before the cash crop is planted. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of termination methods on ground-dwelling arthropods. The conventional mechanical termination method—i.e., green manuring by means of a disc harrow—was compared to flattening using a roller crimper. Two different crop systems were investigated for two growing seasons; cauliflower was grown in autumn after the termination of a mixture of cowpea, pearl millet, and radish, and tomato was cropped in spring and summer after the termination of a mixture of barley and vetch. Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), and spiders (Araneae) were sampled by means of standard pitfall traps throughout the growing season of both cash crops. The roller crimper increased the overall abundance of ground beetles in the first growing season of both cash crops, whereas in the second year, no significant effect could be detected. Rove beetles were more abundant in plots where the cover crops were terminated by the roller crimper. Finally, green manuring increased the abundance of spiders, especially on the first sampling date after cover crop termination. Albeit different taxa showed different responses, the termination of cover crops by a roller crimper generally increased the abundance of ground dwelling arthropods. Given that most of the sampled species were generalist predators, their increased abundance could possibly improve biological control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Biological Control in IPM and Organic Systems)
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