Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is an important pest of apple, peach, plum, etc. Growers use synthetic chemical insecticides to manage this pest, but G. molesta have developed an insecticide resistance. As botanical insecticides have been rarely studied against G. molesta, we assessed relative toxicity of azadirachtin (azatrol 10 mL/L) in comparison with λ-cyhalothtrin (6.7 mL/20L) in residual assays using both glass scintillation vial coated with the insecticides and apple fruits dipped in the insecticide solutions against first instar larvae (<5 h old) of G. molesta. Azadirachtin showed highest corrected morality of 96.7% at 8h followed by 63.3% in λ-cyhalothtrin in the scintillation vial. On apple dipped in the insecticide solutions, no significance in corrected mortality was found between azadirachtin and λ-cyhalothtrin. Thus azadirachtin can be used as a botanical insecticide for the management of G. molesta.
As a broad-spectrum insecticide azadirachtin may cause acute toxicity and alter behavior of natural enemies. We evaluatedthe toxicity of azadirachtin on two egg parasitoids of Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Alydidae), Ooencyrtusnezarae Ishii (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Gryon japonicum (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), by pre-treatinghost eggs with five concentrations, i.e., 15, 10, 7.5, 5, and 2.5 mL/L. Azadirachtin significantly reduced parasitism byG. japonicum in 15 and 10 mL/L concentrations than other lower concentrations. Similar effect was also observed inO. nezarae. The parasitism reduction capacity (R) for G. japonicum was 40.8 and 33.1% in 15 and 10 mL/L concentrations,but it was 81.6 and 71.4% in O. nezarae, respectively. Based on the IOBC guideline, azadirachtin can be slightly ormoderately harmful to O. nezarae and slightly harmful or harmless to G. japonicum.
Orius minutus (L.) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is a native predators of soft body insects such as mites, thrips, and aphids.We compared 24 h consumption rate of O. minutus with that of a commercialized O. laevigatus (Fieber) on egg andadult stage of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Orius minutus predated 1.4 times more adult T. urticae(58 mites) in 24 h than O. laevigatus. Similarly, O. minutus consumed 128 eggs while O. laevigatus consumed 98 eggsin 24 h without statistical difference. These results suggest that native O. minutus can be applied for the augmentativebiological control after the development of mass-rearing method.
Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is an important pest for both stone and pomefruits. In a previous study, we selected four best plant extracts [Nicotiana tabacum L., Allium sativum L., Zanthoxylumpiperitum (L.) DC., and Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn.] against first instar larva, and here we evaluated them against adultstage (<5 d old) in laboratory. N. tabacum applied at 2 mg/ml showed highest corrected mortality of 85 and 100% infemale and male, respectively, within 168 h of exposure. Combined spray of N. tabacum and A. sativum showed LT50of 103.5 and 63.9 h on female and male, respectively. We also evaluated the deterrent effect of the plant extracts onovipositioning, and found that female laid less egg (29) on N. tabacum treated twigs at the concentration of 4 mg/twig.Thus N. tabacum can be a potential botanical insecticide against G. molesta.
Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) is an important pest with wide host range including cabbage, beans, potato etc. We evaluate the virulence of Beauveria bassiana ARP14, B. bassiana GHA, and Isaria japonica with concentration of 1×108 conidia/mL against larval stage of S. exigua using glass scintillation vial. Lethal median time (LT50) of these three fungi was not found significantly different in both fourth and second instar. Infection rate was higher in fourth instar than second instar. Infection rate was highest by B. bassiana ARP14 (84.0%) followed by B. bassiana GHA (63.6%) and I. japonica (45.8%) in fourth instars of S. exigua. Our results suggest that B. bassiana ARP14 can be a new component of integrated pest management of S. exigua.
Negative effects of insecticides on non-target organism can be reduced by using selective and less toxic insecticides. We assessed the effect of subsequent application of flonicamid and Beauveria bassiana GHA on pests and natural enemies in soybean fields by recording their density in 6-8 d interval. Flonicamid controlled Aphis glycines Matsumura in 6 day after spray (DAS). Nymphs of Riptortus pedestris (F.) were also reduced by 46 and 48% in 12 and 19 DAS, respectively. Application of B. bassiana reduced R. pedestris nymph 50% in 16 DAS whereas adult R. pedestris, Medythia nigrobilineata Motschulsky and A. glycines were not significantly reduced in treated fields. Ladybird beetles, syrphid flies, hymenopteran wasps, and parasitism rate of R. pedestris eggs were not different between the treatment and control. These results suggest that flonicamid and B. bassiana showed less negative effect on the natural enemies and effective against aphids and nymphs stage of R. pedestris.
An entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana ARP14, was isolated from field collected Riptortus pedestris (F.). Lethal concentration of ARP14 was compared with commercialized GHA strain against R. pedestris and its egg parasitoids Ooencyrtus nezarae Ishii and Gryon japonicum (Ashmead). Mortality and infection rate were evaluated in five concentrations, i.e., 1×10 9 , 1×10 8 , 1×10 7 , 1×10 6 , and 1×10 5 conidia/mL using glass scintillation vial. The LC50 of 2nd, 4th instar, and adult stage of R. pedestris was not different between the two strains. The infection rate of ARP14 was higher than that of GHA in 4th instar and adult stage in 1×10 8 conidia/mL. The infection rate was low in ARP14 than GHA in both egg parasitoids. Therefore, our results suggest that the ARP14 strain can be used against R. pedestris with less negative effect on egg parasitoids than GHA strain.
Virulence of six entomopathogenic fungi was assessed against the 1st instar larva (<5 h old) of oriental fruit moth Grapholita molesta (Busck) in laboratory which is considered as an important pest for stone fruits. Three strains of Beauveria bassiana and each strain of Metarhizium robertsii, Metarhizium bruneum, and Isaria farinosa were evaluated with the concentration of 1×108 conidia/mL at 95.9% RH and 25.4°C by glass scintillation vial assay. Among all, two strains of B. bassiana, ARP14 (87.5%) and A (unpublished) (72.7%), showed highest virulence with 9.8 and 12.6 h of LT50 within 16 h of exposure. However, B. bassiana A showed highest infection rate of 90.0% compare to ARP14 (70.0%) after 14 days. From these results, the two strains of B. bassiana, ARP14 and A, can be used for the control of G. molesta.
Information on spatial distribution and peak occurrence is important for site and time specific pest management. So, we investigated seasonal occurrence and edge distribution of major soybean pests by visual count in six commercial fields located in Andong from July 16 to October 23 in 2015. We found a total of 19 species in 10 families. The major pest during vegetative stage was Medythia nigrobilineata (Motschulsky) while Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) and Halyomorpha halys (Stal) showed peak occurrence during reproductive stage of soybean. Aphis glycines Matsumura was found throughout the season. Seasonal density of M. nigrobilineata was 0.20 and 0.38/plant in edge and interior without significance, respectively. The infestation of A. glycine was also found similar between edge and interior. Immatures of R. pedestris and H. halys distributed more in edge (0.21 and 0.36/plant) than interior (0.12 and 0.12/plant), respectively. The application of these informations on spatial distribution pattern of soybean pest was discussed.
A mycoinsecticide, Beauveria bassiana (strain GHA) marketed as BotaniGard® ES, was evaluated as a biological control agent against Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Alydidae) a major soybean pest. It was tested on commercial soybean fields with one time spray of both high (1×109) and medium (1×108spore/ml) concentration and double spray of the medium concentration. Nymph population decreased in all treated fields regardless of dose and frequency of spray. But, adult and egg populations were not affected. Alive nymphs collected from the fields and kept in laboratory showed infection rate ranging 35-68% in treated plots while 0% in control plots. It also reduced damage on soybean pods and seeds by 17.7-21.2 and 18.0-22.5% compare to control, respectively. Additionally, B. bassiana reduced other pests found in soybean fields including brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys (Stål) and two striped leaf beetle Medythia nigrobilineata Motschulsky. Also there was no negative effect on the parasitism of released non-viable eggs of R. pedestris. These results suggest that, in field condition, one time spraying of B. bassiana in the concentration of 1×108spore/ml can help reducing crop damage as well as R. pedestris nymph population.
Lethal concentration of Beauveria bassiana (Strain GHA, Botanigard, Arysta LifeScience) against Riptortus pedestris (F.) (Hemiptera: Alydidae) was compared with that of its’ parasitoid Ooencyrtus nezarae Ishii (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Five concentrations of the mycoinsecticide, i.e., 5×108, 1×108, 2×107, 4×106, and 8×105 conidia/ml, were used. Glass scintillation vial was coated with 100 μl solution, and insects were released and assessed up to 12 hours. The LC50 and LC20 of second instar R. pedestris were 1.8×1010 and 1.5×108 conidia/ml, and those of O. nezarae were 1.9×107 and 2.8×106 conidia/ml, respectively. The mortality of O. nezarae was observed 3.9 times higher than R. pedestris in higher concentration. This result shows that O. nezarae is more susceptible to the mycoinsecticide than R. pedestris.