Myzus persicae Management through Combined Use of Beneficial Insects and Thiacloprid in Pepper Seedlings.

Qingcai Lin,Feng Zhang,Li Zheng,Xiaoyan Dai,Yifan Zhai,Jinping Zhang,Shuyan Yin,Zhenjuan Yin,Chenghao Shi,Hao Chen

doi:10.3390/insects12090791

Abstract

Excessive insecticide application has posed a threat to pollinators and has also increased insecticide resistance of Myzus persicae Sulzer. Therefore, it is urgent to develop an economical and effective strategy, especially for greenhouse vegetables. Firstly, we selected a neonicotinoid insecticide that is specifically fatal to M. persicae but relatively safe to predators and bumblebees by laboratory toxicity tests and risk assessments. Then, we tested the effectiveness of the neonicotinoid insecticide under different temperature conditions. According to the LC50 values and the hazard quotients, thiacloprid met the requirements. Greenhouse trails indicated that thiacloprid was quite efficient, while control dropped to 80% without the application of thiacloprid. As for biological control, Harmonia axyridis effectively controlled 90% of aphids with thiacloprid or not. However, Aphidoletes aphidimyza performed better above 20 °C. Our results indicated that it is cost-effective to control M. persicae with A. aphidimyza in suitable temperature conditions and H. axyridis was more effective at low temperatures. Practically, thiacloprid could be used either as an emergency option to control aphids' abundance alone or in combination with natural enemies.

Highlights

The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a worldwide economically important pest with a host range of over 400 plant species [1]
Both A. aphidimyza and H. axyridis were reared to second instar with pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) while B. terrestris workers reared on the same fresh pollen diet and sugar syrup were used for acute toxicity experiment
According to LC50, we found that A. aphidimyza was the most sensitive to the eight neonicotinoids with LC50 ≤ 0.34 mg a.i.·L−1

Summary

Introduction

The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a worldwide economically important pest with a host range of over 400 plant species [1]. M. persicae inflicts serious damage on plants, including vegetables grown in the greenhouse, directly by ingesting phloem or indirectly transmitting over 100 different plant viruses [1]. Populations of M. persicae can increase rapidly and cause serious damage in a short period of time due to its continual parthenogenesis and short generation time. The control of M. persicae has exclusively relied on chemical insecticides, making it become one of the most widely resistant pest [2]. More effective chemical and natural enemy combinations for M. persicae control need to be practiced

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