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- Title
Greenhouse Evaluation of Neonate and Adult Applications of Coleomegilla maculata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to Control Twospotted Spider Mite Infestations.
- Authors
Allen, Margaret Louise
- Abstract
The lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata DeGeer (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a euryphagous predator that is known to consume the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Spider mites are frequently problematic in greenhouse operations and often cause damage to the ornamental and bedding plant Impatiens walleriana Hook f. (Ericales: Balsaminaceae). Increasing demand for alternatives to pesticides combined with resistance to registered pest control products necessitates the evaluation of viable alternatives. In this study, naïve impatiens were intentionally infested with twospotted spider mites. When damage was visible on experimental plants, they were treated with lady beetles in containment cages. One treatment was adult C. maculata and another treatment was neonate C. maculata using recently developed methods for rearing and harvesting eggs . Levels of spider mite infestation were assessed after treatments, and images of the treated and untreated plants were collected to assess the effectiveness of C. maculata in a greenhouse environment. Plants with C. maculata treatments were essentially free of spider mites. There is potential to use mass-reared C. maculata eggs as treatment for spider mites in contained crops or indoor decorative plants.
- Subjects
TWO-spotted spider mite; SPOTTED lady beetle; INSECTS as biological pest control agents; ORNAMENTAL plant diseases &; pests; IMPATIENS wallerana; BIOLOGICAL control of plant parasites; PREDATORY insects; GREENHOUSES
- Publication
Florida Entomologist (Florida Entomological Society), 2015, Vol 98, Issue 2, p714
- ISSN
0015-4040
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1653/024.098.0247