Compatibility of Atheta coriaria with other biological control agents and reduced-risk insecticides used in greenhouse floriculture integrated pest management programs for fungus gnats
- 1 October 2006
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in The Canadian Entomologist
- Vol. 138 (5), 712-722
- https://doi.org/10.4039/n05-106
Abstract
Fungus gnats (FG) (Diptera: Sciaridae: Bradysia spp.) are economically important pests of greenhouse flowers. Larvae feed on root tissue and transmit a variety of phytopathogens. Atheta coriaria (Kraatz) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) is a new biological control agent (BCA) for FG. To support its successful use by the greenhouse industry, its compatibility with current integrated pest management (IPM) programs used in floriculture was assessed. This included investigations of prey preference, possible detrimental interactions with other soil-dwelling BCAs, and the toxicity to A. coriaria of registered and novel insecticides. Atheta coriaria showed little preference among eggs of different pest species or between pest eggs and eggs of the intraguild predator Hypoaspis aculeifer (Canestrini) (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae). It preferred FG 1st-instar larvae to larvae and pupae of other soil-dwelling pests. The entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) was compatible with A. coriaria, but H. aculeifer mites fed on A. coriaria larvae. Insect growth regulators with limited contact activity (e.g., diflubenzuron) were compatible with adult A. coriaria and had minimal effects on larvae compared with other insecticides. Atheta coriaria can be incorporated into an IPM program for FG if harsh insecticides are avoided, but interactions with predatory mites, as well as its effectiveness against other greenhouse pests when FG are present, require further investigation.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bioassays for entomopathogenic nematodes.Published by CABI Publishing ,2000
- The effectiveness of a range of insecticides against western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) (Thysanoptera : Thripidae) on cut flowersAustralian Journal of Agricultural Research, 1997
- Use of Entomopathogenic Nematodes and a New Monitoring Technique for Control of Fungus Gnats, Bradysia coprophila (Diptera: Sciaridae), in FloricultureBiological Control, 1995
- Intraguild Predation Among Biological-Control Agents: Theory and EvidenceBiological Control, 1995
- Prey preference and egg production of the carabid beetle Agonum dorsaleEntomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 1994
- PREY PREFERENCES OF ADULT AND IMMATURE ZETZELLIA MALI EWING (ACARI: STIGMAEIDAE) AND TYPHLODROMUS CAUDIGLANS SCHUSTER (ACARI: PHYTOSEIIDAE)The Canadian Entomologist, 1993
- Transmission of Pythium aphanidermatum to greenhouse cucumber by the fungus gnat Bradysia impatiens (Diptera: Sciaridae)Annals of Applied Biology, 1993
- Stigmaeid-phytoseiid interactions and the impact of natural enemy complexes on plant-inhabiting mitesExperimental and Applied Acarology, 1992
- Ingestion-Egestion and Aerial Transmission ofPythium aphanidermatumby Shore Flies (Ephydrinae:Scatella stagnalis)Phytopathology®, 1990
- Toxicity of the insect growth regulator diflubenzuron to the rove beetle Aleochara bilineata, a parasitoid and predator of the cabbage maggot Delia radicumEntomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 1986