Biological Control of Plant Pests in Protected Culture

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2019) | Viewed by 5247

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Biological Control Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Stoneville, MS 38776, USA
Interests: behavioral and chemical ecology of natural enemies; biological control; insect colonization; insect-amphibian interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biological control using predators, parasitoids, or pathogens has been recognized as an effective method to control plant pests in agricultural systems, especially in protected culture, i.e., greenhouses. The aim of this special issue is to highlight recent advances in biocontrol research in greenhouses, high tunnels, nurseries, and plantscapes. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts describing research on any aspect of biocontrol in protected culture. Experimental and theoretical approaches to the study of natural enemy behavior, ecology, physiology, or nutriton are encouraged.

Dr. Eric W. Riddick
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biocontrol
  • natural enemies
  • population dynamics
  • semiochemicals
  • intraguild predation
  • host-parasitoid interactions

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

15 pages, 1874 KiB  
Review
Efficacy of Two Entomopathogenic Fungi, Metarhizium brunneum, Strain F52 Alone and Combined with Paranosema locustae against the Migratory Grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes, under Laboratory and Greenhouse Conditions
by Wahid H. Dakhel, Alexandre V. Latchininsky and Stefan T. Jaronski
Insects 2019, 10(4), 94; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10040094 - 30 Mar 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4683
Abstract
Grasshopper outbreaks cause significant damage to crops and grasslands in US. Chemical control is widely used to suppress these pests but it reduces environmental quality. Biological control of insect pests is an alternative way to reduce the use of chemical insecticides. In this [...] Read more.
Grasshopper outbreaks cause significant damage to crops and grasslands in US. Chemical control is widely used to suppress these pests but it reduces environmental quality. Biological control of insect pests is an alternative way to reduce the use of chemical insecticides. In this context, two entomopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium brunneum strain F52 and Paranosema locustae were evaluated as control agents for the pest migratory grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Third-instar grasshoppers, reared in the laboratory, were exposed up to fourteen days to wheat bran treated with different concentrations of each of the fungi alone or the two pathogens combined. In the greenhouse, nymphs were placed individually in cages where they were able to increase their body temperatures by basking in the sun in an attempt to inhibit the fungal infection, and treated with each pathogen alone or in combination. Mortality was recorded daily and presence of fungal outgrowth in cadavers was confirmed by recording fungal mycosis for two weeks’ post-treatment (PT). For combination treatment, the nature of the pathogen interaction (synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effects) was also determined. In laboratory conditions, all treatments except P. locustae alone resulted in grasshopper mortality. The application of the pathogen combinations caused 75% and 77%, mortality for lower and higher concentrations, respectively than each of the pathogens alone. We infer a synergistic effect occurred between the two agents. In greenhouse conditions, the highest mortalities were recorded in combination fungal treatments with a M. brunneum dose (60% mortality) and with a combination of the two pathogens in which M. brunneum was applied at high rate (50%) two weeks after application. This latter combination also exhibited a synergistic effect. Exposure to the P. locustae treatment did not lead to mortality until day 14 PT. We infer that these pathogens are promising for developing a biopesticide formulation for rangeland pest grasshopper management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control of Plant Pests in Protected Culture)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop