Applied Entomology and Zoology (2011) 46, 103-110

Ken Funayama (2011)
Influence of pest control pressure on occurrence of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in apple orchards
Applied Entomology and Zoology 46 (1), 103-110
Abstract: Bioindicators that reflect the level of chemical control have not been developed for use in apple orchards in Japan. In Japan, many carabid beetles and spiders are beneficial predators of a wide range of agricultural pest insects. In apple orchards, spider numbers are reflective of the level of control pressure, but there is no information on carabid beetles. To establish whether carabid beetles could indeed be useful bioindicators, the number of carabid beetles and spiders in six apple orchards (A-F) under different levels of control pressure was investigated in Akita prefecture, northern Japan, in 2008 and 2009. The negative impact on beneficial arthropods was assumed to decrease in the order of pyrethroids (A) > organophosphates (B) > neonicotinoids (C) > insect growth regulators (D) > fungicides only (E) > no spraying (F). Sprays were applied at 2-week intervals from mid-May to early August. Twenty species of carabid beetles were found in orchard F; about 50% of adults were Anisodactylus punctatipennis, and 30-40% were Amara chalcites. The number of Am. chalcites significantly decreased with increasing control pressure: (A-C) < (E, F) in 2008, (A-E) < F in 2009, and (A, B) < E in 2009. Most spiders collected were juvenile Tetragnathidae and Araneidae. The numbers of spiders and Am. chalcites adults were significantly highly correlated at each control pressure in both years. Thus, it was considered that only Am. chalcites adults can be used as bioindicators reflecting the control pressure in apple orchards in northern Japan, whereas the main diet of this species is probably C3 plants.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ken Funayama

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
health/environmental effects of pesticides
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
resistance to pesticides

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Anisodactylus signatus (predator)			Japan