International Journal of Pest Management (2016) 62, 129-134

Carla Romeu-Dalmau, Xavier Espadaler and Josep Piñol (2016)
Management implications of earwigs' overwintering sites in a Mediterranean citrus grove
International Journal of Pest Management 62 (2), 129-134
Abstract: To promote earwigs as natural enemies of pests, or to control their populations if they damage crops, earwigs can be managed during their overwintering period on the ground. Here, we obtained more than a ton of soil to study earwigs' overwintering sites in a citrus grove. We found four species of earwigs: Forficula pubescens, Euborellia annulipes, Euborellia moesta, and Nala lividipes. Surprisingly, and although the European earwig Forficula auricularia is abundant in the citrus canopies the rest of the year, we did not find any F. auricularia, indicating that this species spends the winter outside the citrus grove. Therefore, farmers willing to manage European earwig populations in citrus orchards need to consider the possibility that earwigs may spend the winter outside the field. Earwigs that were overwintering in the citrus grove were more abundant at the south side beneath the canopies than at the north side or between rows, indicating that management practices such as soil tillage can impact overwintering earwigs only beneath the canopies, but not between citrus rows. Overall, our results provide insights into how earwig populations can be successfully managed during winter in citrus orchards.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
population dynamics/epizootiology
environment/habitat manipulation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Euborellia annulipes (predator)