Insects (2021) 12 (4 - 330)

Martina Parrilli, Marco Profeta, Luca Casoli, Fabio Gambirasio, Antonio Masetti and Giovanni Burgio (2021)
Use of sugar dispensers to disrupt ant attendance and improve biological control of mealybugs in vineyard
Insects 12 (4 - 330)
Abstract: Planococcus ficus (Signoret) and Pseudococcus comstocki (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) are economically important pests occurring in vineyards, causing severe economic losses for growers and compromising bunch production. The partial effectiveness of insecticides used in controlling mealybug infestations as well as their high impact on the environment and on human health have led to the research of alternative and sustainable control methods, including biological control. Several natural enemies are reported to be effective against mealybugs, but their activity may be hindered by tending ants. These social insects are known to exhibit a mutualistic relationship with mealybugs, resulting in extremely aggressive behavior against beneficial insects. Consequently, this study explored a method to mitigate ant attendance by means of sugar dispensers in order to improve ecosystem services, as well as decrease mealybug infestation in vineyards. Field trials were carried out in four commercial vineyards of Northern Italy infested by mealybugs, in which Anagyrus vladimiri Triapitsyn (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were released as biological control agents. Our results showed that sugar dispensers reduced ant activity and mealybug infestation, leading to a significant enhancement of ecosystem services. The technique showed a great potential in boosting biological control against mealybugs in field conditions, though the field application seemed to be labour intensive and needs to be replicated for a multi-year evaluation.
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Database assignments for author(s): Antonio Masetti, Giovanni Burgio

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
control - general
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
application technology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Pseudococcus comstocki	Grapevine (Vitis)	Italy
	Planococcus ficus	Grapevine (Vitis)	Italy
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (predator)	Planococcus ficus	Grapevine (Vitis)	Italy
Anagyrus vladimiri (parasitoid)	Planococcus ficus	Grapevine (Vitis)	Italy