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Using ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to control slugs (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in salad greens in the laboratory and greenhouse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2014

J.M. Renkema ,
G.C. Cutler ,
D. Blanchard  and
A. Hammermeister
J.M. Renkema*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, P.O. Box 550, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3
G.C. Cutler
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, P.O. Box 550, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3
D. Blanchard
Affiliation:
Pleasant Hill Farm, 5104 Highway 208, Pleasant River, Nova Scotia, Canada B0T 1X0
A. Hammermeister
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, P.O. Box 550, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: renkemaj@uoguelph.ca)
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Abstract

Ground beetles common in temperate agroecosystems are predators of crop pests, including slugs (Gastropoda: Pulmonata). Salad green production in greenhouses during autumn and spring can be limited by damage due to slugs and other pests. Introducing ground beetles to greenhouses may help reduce damage and improve yields. In the laboratory, while arenas with only slugs produced nearly no harvestable leaves, the presence of Carabus nemoralis Müller (Coleoptera: Carabidae) increased the number and weight of harvestable leaves to 55% of the amount in control arenas (without slugs or beetles), in addition to reducing the number of slugs. In a second experiment, adult or second-instar Pterostichus melanarius (Illiger) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were released into greenhouse mesocosms (75 cm diameter steel rings) containing salad greens and slugs. Neither adults nor larvae improved the number or weight of harvestable leaves at the first two harvests, and there was no evidence of slug consumption. Towards the end of the experiment cutworms were common in the mesocosms and contributed to damaging salad greens. Adult P. melanarius likely consumed some cutworms, resulting in small increases in salad green yields at the third harvest. Our results suggest that ground beetles should be further examined as part of an integrated approach to pest control in late and early season salad green production in greenhouses.

Type
Insect Management
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 146 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 567 - 578
Copyright
© Entomological Society of Canada 2014 

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Footnotes

Subject editor: David McCorquodale

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