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The feasibility and efficacy of early-season releases of a generalist predator (Forficula auricularia L.) to control populations of the RAA (Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini) in Southeastern France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2016

H. Dib ,
M. Jamont ,
B. Sauphanor  and
Y. Capowiez
H. Dib*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Protection/Biological Control Studies and Research Center, University of Damascus, Damascus, Syria
M. Jamont
Affiliation:
INRA, Unité PSH, Equipe Ecologie de la Production Intégrée, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France
B. Sauphanor
Affiliation:
INRA, Unité PSH, Equipe Ecologie de la Production Intégrée, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France
Y. Capowiez
Affiliation:
INRA, Unité PSH, Equipe Ecologie de la Production Intégrée, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France
*
*Author for correspondence Phone: +963 934 297545 Fax: +963 115 116352 E-mail: hazem802005@yahoo.com
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Abstract

Augmentative biological control is not commonly used in commercial orchards. We used an exclusion system to evaluate the potential of early-season releases of the European earwig (Forficula auricularia L., Dermaptera: Forficulidae) for control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini, Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the spring of 2009 in two pesticide-free apple orchards. In order to conduct this experiment we successfully reared earwigs with a high survival rate of nymphs (more than 96%) which may have commercial application. There were three treatments in the study: (i) a ‘release treatment’ where we confined the released earwigs in the canopy by using a barrier system; (ii) an ‘exclusion treatment’ where we blocked free access of earwigs into the canopy using the same barrier system; and (iii) a ‘control treatment’ that represented the natural situation. Contrary to expectations, earwig releases did not reduce D. plantaginea populations. In general, the abundance of natural enemies and their groups did not differ significantly among treatments, except for earwigs. We observed that the exclusion systems we used successfully kept both earwigs and ants away from tree canopies; total numbers on trees in the ‘exclusion treatment’ were significantly lower than on the other two treatments. Due to the complexity and difficulty of evaluating augmentative releases of natural enemies in open orchard conditions, we conclude that new technical approaches to control site conditions are needed when conducting such studies.

Keywords

European earwigForficulidaeAphididaeaugmentationbiological controlant
Type
Research Papers
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 106 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 233 - 241
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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