Natural Enemies & Insecticides Celeste Welty February 2012
How to use insecticides in presence of natural enemies? Choose product: Selective (by mode of action) or Very short residual activity
Insecticides OMRI-listed, narrow spectrum – viruses (Gemstar) – bacteria (B.t.: Dipel) – Pheromones (CheckMate-TPW) OMRI-listed, broad spectrum – soaps – oils – botanicals: neem, pyrethrins – fungi: Beauveria
Sources of info on non-target effects Scientific journals – Review articles – Individual studies Insect supply companies – Koppert – Biobest
Effects of insecticides Direct – Contact toxicity – Residual toxicity Sub-lethal effects – Physiology – Behavior Indirect effects – Food supply
4 examples of research reports on specific systems
Data from research trials: parasitoid of squash bug in Georgia Ingestion Walking on residues or contact by spray But note: no mention of effect on PEST
Data from research trials: avocado lace bug & lacewings in Calif. PESTENEMY WANT HIGH MORTALITYWANT LOW MORTALITY
Data from research trials: avocado lace bug & lacewings in Calif. PESTENEMY WANT HIGH MORTALITYWANT LOW MORTALITY good bad
Data from research trials: whiteflies on eggplant in Egypt (Beauveria) parasitoids predatorspest Helpful that 4 enemies evaluated, as well as the pest Look for least harsh to enemies but suppression of pest best
Koppert Biological Systems, Webpage on side effects for 47 natural enemies & 137 chemicals
Green = good Red= bad
Koppert: lacewings & spinosad
Note difference between life stages
Next 3 slides… use Koppert charts to compare multiple enemies & multiple chemicals look for general trends: some columns mostly green some columns mostly red
Koppert: 4 predator insects & 7 OMRI products
Koppert: 4 parasitoid insects & 7 OMRI products
Koppert: 3 predatory mites & 7 OMRI products
Biobest: Webpage & new mobile app on side effects for 21 natural enemies & 263 chemicals
Biobest: 4 predators & 5 OMRI products Note similar trends as on the Koppert charts
Trends? Not harsh: – azadirachtin – B.T. Harsh: – soap (potassium salts of fatty acids) Mixed results: – spinosad – pyrethrins – mineral oil
Caution… These do not include consideration of efficacy of chemical against the PEST….
Hierarchy of harshness to natural enemies Spray conventional (non-OMRI) >> Spray OMRI broad spectrum (soaps, oils, botanicals, fungi) >> Spray OMRI narrow spectrum (viruses, pheromones, bacteria) >> No spray