Field Trials of a Mechanical Prototype Designed to Release Insect Predators to Control the Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)

Abstract

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is a major insect pest of potato crops in many countries around the world. Chemical insecticides constitute the most widely used control method for this insect pest. To date, no registered chemical pest control product has proven effective at managing CPB on a long-term basis. Although biological control through manual release of natural enemies of CPB has been successful on a small scale, large-scale manual release of these predators is not realistic. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of mechanical release of predator insects as a control method for CPB under real conditions in a potato field. The results show that the use of Podisus maculiventris second and third instar nymphs provided effective control of CPB populations throughout the growing season in Quebec, Canada. Moreover, mechanical release of these predator insects proved as efficient as manual release on potato plants. This points to the potential for using mechanical release of predator insects for biological control on a commercial scale. The tested approach based on mechanical release of beneficial insects holds promise for biological control of insect pests in many other row crops, such as eggplant, crucifers, cucurbits, onions, sweet corn, tomatoes, and strawberries.