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Evaluation of several strategies to increase the residence time of Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera, Syrphidae) releases in sweet pepper greenhouses
Author(s) -
Pineda A.,
MarcosGarcía M.A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00215.x
Subject(s) - biology , greenhouse , pepper , horticulture , pupa , toxicology , population , botany , larva , demography , sociology
We have investigated several factors affecting the augmentation of the aphidophagous syrphid Episyrphus balteatus in Mediterranean sweet pepper greenhouses. First, the effectiveness of releases has been assessed by recording the larva and pupa number. The abundance of E. balteatus varied between greenhouses, which was not observed to be a release effect. Second, two experiments were performed to assess the effect of three biological control management strategies on the release residence time. In the first experiment, the greenhouse ventilation was shown to have a significant influence on the adult population residence time, which was higher when the side walls were closed rather than open. The introduction of additional floral resources (sweet alyssum and coriander) did not have a significant effect on the release residence time. In the second experiment, the age of the released adults was assessed, and 2‐day‐old adults stayed longer in the greenhouse than 7‐day‐old adults, but the 7‐day‐old adults had more time to lay eggs. Although syrphids are effective aphid natural enemies, the release methodology of introducing pupae appears not to be effective in Mediterranean greenhouses. In this paper, we propose changing the methodology of releasing E. balteatus .