Selective insecticides: the potential for improved control of the soybean aphid as a result of a bioresidual

Abstract

Natural enemies of the invasive pest Aphis glycines can prevent its establishment and population growth. Regardless, the common form of control that is used against A. glycines is the application of broad-spectrum insecticides, which not only affect the populations of the pest, but also the natural enemies that are present in the field at the time of application. An alternative is the use of selective insecticides that affect the targeted pest species, while having a reduced impact on the natural enemy community. We tested the effects of broad-spectrum and selective insecticides on the populations of natural enemies in soybean fields during the 2009 and 2010 field seasons to determine the impacts that each class had on the abundances of the natural enemies. The insecticides that were used for the study included esfenvalerate, spirotetramat, imidacloprid, and CMT-560. We compared the abundances of natural enemies at a pre-application date and a post-application date to determine if the insecticides that were used affected natural enemies. We determined that selective insecticides have a reduced impact on the natural enemy communities, but the individual selective insecticides have different impacts on individual species of natural enemies.