Search results for "Biological control"

Outcomes of intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids in field and semi-field conditions

2012

Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids, Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) exploring egg masses of the Southern Green Stink Bug Nezara viridula (L.) were investigated in field and semi-field conditions. Field trials were conducted in tomato fields by using sentinel and naturally laid egg masses in 2010 and 2011. Egg parasitoids monitoring, by sentinel egg masses placed weekly on plants during the tomato growing season and recollected one week later, showed that T. basalis occurs from June to October, whereas O. telenomicida occurs mainly in July and August. In the same fields, collections of naturally laid egg masses display different types o…

First records on Thripobius semiluteus Boocek (Hymenoptera:Eulophida) in Sicily.

2001

Ecological infrastructures in a vineyard of West Sicily

2008

Introduction into Italy of Gryon pennsylvanicum (Ashmead), an egg parasitoid of the alien invasive bug Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann

2011

Leptoglossus occidentalis (Heteroptera, Coreidae), a Nearctic species, was accidentally introduced into Northern Italy in the late 1990s, from where it has spread throughout Europe. The bug causes abortion of immature cones of Pinus pinea L., with economic impact on the pine-nut industry. As part of a pest control research program, the egg parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae) was collected from British Columbia, Canada, and legally introduced to a quarantine climatic chamber in Florence, Italy. The egg parasitoid will be tested against native non target heteropterans, an environmental impact assessment will be conducted, and a mass rearing method will be dev…

Interactions between Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AG1 and Aspergillus spp. contaminating food and feedstuffs

2022

Aspergillus is a widespread fungal genus contaminating and degrading food and feeds mostly during storage. Some species can also produce carcinogenic mycotoxins harmful for human and animal health. In this study, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AG1 (BaAG1), active against fungal pathogens was evaluated by in vitro tests against seven Aspergillus species belonging to six Aspergillus sections. After 7 days of incubation at 25°C, mycelial growth of all fungal species was reduced from 46.53% to 60.92%, compared to the controls. The inhibitory effect of BaAG1 cell-free culture filtrate was tested by turbidimetric measurements by using ScanReady P-800 that allow the automatic and continuous monitoring…

The status of Orobanche crenata in Sicily and preliminary observations on Orobanche crenata susceptibility in Vicia faba

2013

Since more than 10 years we are recording Orobanche crenata populations variations and testing traditional remedies to assess their applicability in a low impact agriculture that may be applied also in developing countries. Starting from the observation that often in C Sicily dense fields of Broadbean show lower Broomrape infestation, we did some preliminary observations on Orobanche crenata susceptibility in Vicia faba var. faba and Vicia faba var. equina with different agricultural techniques. First results show a higher resistance of the latter sowed at higher densities.

Rearing of Prays citri on callus derived from lemon stigma and style culture

2000

A new method for rearing the citrus flower moth (Prays citri Mill.) (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutidae) on lemon [Citrus limon (L.) Burm.] callus is reported. In the present research callus (an undifferentiated mass of plant cells that can be grown under sterile conditions on an artificial medium in vitro) was induced from lemon stigma and style explants cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 500 mg l -1 malt extract, 13.3 μM 6-benzylaminopurine, and 146 mM sucrose. Also somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration were obtained from the cultures of styles and stigmas of lemon. Adults were obtained from larvae on infested flowers collected in the field. Different oviposition…

Evolutionary biology as a tool towards a more customized biological control strategy of weeds: Lepidium draba as a case study

2004

Lepidium draba (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia, is one of the most invasive noxious weeds in North American rangelands and croplands. As part of the management plan for its control, one of its natural enemies, the collar gall weevil Ceutorhynchus assimilis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has been targeted and its genetic structure in the mitochondrial COI gene explored. Results clearly gave evidence of different genetic entities within this recognized species, one being restricted to the host L. draba and distributed in Southern France, Northern Spain and Italy. Furthermore, these results were supported by host plant spectrum studies in laboratory that showed specific and generalist populatio…

Landscape scale and local crop protection intensity affect the abundance of the codling moth and its predation and parasitism in apple orchards

2017

International audience; One important feature that may explain variation in pest abundance and pest biocontrol in crops is the land-use intensity in the landscapes. We report results from three studies in which we tried to address this question by assessing whether amount of semi-natural habitat and/or pesticide use at both local and landscape scales affected the abundance of codling moth, its parasitism and predation of sentinel eggs in commercial apple orchards of south-eastern France. Our results indicate that in this landscape there is indeed a significant effect of the pesticide use intensity at both the local and the landscape scales on these variables

Disentangling local agronomic practices from agricultural landscape effects on pest biological control

2019

International audience; The biological control of crop pests is a valuable service provided by various beneficial organisms that are naturally present in agricultural landscapes. Semi-natural habitats has long been recognized as essential to preserve beneficial insects, but proof of their efficiency to enhance biological control of pests remains non conclusive. Here, we examined the variability of landscape effect on biological pest control and the way local agronomic practices may modulate it. Biological pest control was monitored in 80 commercial fields (arable crops and orchards) during three consecutive years in four contrasting French agricultural landscapes distributed along a double …