Management of Strawberry Insect and Mite Pests in Greenhouse and Field Crops

Strawberry is an important small fruit crop grown throughout the world due to its rich sources of vitamins and abundance of antioxidants. The US is the world’s leading producer of strawberries followed by Mexico. The main strawberry producing states are California followed by Florida, which produce >90% of the strawberries grown in the US. Strawberry production is often threatened by a host of arthropod pests that include insect and mite species. In order for the US to maintain its lead in strawberry production it is vital to develop effective management tools for key insect pests, diseases, and weeds. Some of the major arthropod pests that affect strawberry production include twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, thrips, Frankliniella and Scirtothrips spp., armyworms, root-boring pests, and many different hemipterans that cause injury to the strawberry leaf and fruit including the tarnished plant bug, Lygus Hesperus, and the seed bug Neopamera bilobata Say. This chapter will summarize some of the key pests that can severely impact strawberry production. We have included some integrated management guidelines to curtail pest’s activities during a production season

Comparison of Biodegradable, Plastic and Wodden Imidacloprid-Treated Spheres for Control of Rhagoletis mendax (Diptera: Tephritidae) Flies

In experiments comparing biodegradable, plastic and wooden imidacloprid-treated spheres for control of Rhagoletis mendax Curran, the mean number of flies caught on plexiglas panes below each sphere type was not significantly different for the entire season. However, the mean time spent by R. mendax flies alighting on biodegradable imidacloprid-treated spheres was significantly greater (2.6×) than plastic imidacloprid-treated spheres. During 2001, significantly fewer larvae were found in blueberries harvested from bushes that had wooden imidacloprid-treated spheres hung within the canopy compared with bushes where biodegradable and plastic imidacloprid-treated spheres were deployed. There was no significant difference between the number of larvae found in berries picked from bushes where biodegradable or plastic spheres were deployed. All imidacloprid-treated sphere treatments were found to significantly reduce blueberry maggot larval infestation in fruit compared with the control

A Plan for Economic Evaluation of Organic Blueberry Production in Georgia

Blueberry consumption is increasing across the United States. Georgia’s production value of conventional blueberries has exceeded that of peaches to reach a farm-gate value of $75 million. Demand for organic food products is increasing with United States gross sales at$16.9 billion in 2006. Economic feasibility of organic blueberries is uncertain creating risk in transitioning from conventional to organic production. The principal objective is to utilize field data to determine the costs of various production methods, by developing several enterprise budgets for each adopted technique., Crop Production/Industries,

Economics of Organic Blueberry Establishment in Georgia

Crop Production/Industries,

Biological control of tephritid fruit flies in the Americas and Hawaii: A review of the use of parasitoids and predators

Biological control has been the most commonly researched control tactic within fruit fly management programs. For the first time, a review is carried out covering parasitoids and predators of fruit flies (Tephritidae) from the Americas and Hawaii, presenting the main biological control programs in this region. In this work, 31 species of fruit flies of economic importance are considered in the genera Anastrepha (11), Rhagoletis (14), Bactrocera (4), Ceratitis (1), and Zeugodacus (1). In this study, a total of 79 parasitoid species of fruit flies of economic importance are listed and, from these, 50 are native and 29 are introduced. A total of 56 species of fruit fly predators occur in the Americas and Hawaii.Fil: Garcia, Flávio R. M.. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Ovruski Alderete, Sergio Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Suárez, Lorena. Dirección de Sanidad Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Cancino, Jorge. Programa Moscafrut Sagarpa-iica; MéxicoFil: Liburd, Oscar E.. University of Florida; Estados Unido

Injury to Southern Highbush Blueberries by Southern Red Mites and Management Using Various Miticides

Reports of severe infestations caused by southern red mites (SRM), Oligonychus ilicis McGregor (Acari: Tetranychidae), have increased in recent years in southern highbush blueberries (SHB). Currently, there is little known about the management of tetranychids in SHB, and only two miticides (fenazaquin and fenpyroximate) have recently been labeled for use in SHB. Oligonychus ilicis has caused up to 80%–100% losses in some blueberry plantings, and growers are looking for management tools for this new pest of blueberries. We report on injury to SHB from O. ilicis and the performance of seven miticides used to manage SRM populations, including spiromesifen, spiromesifen plus surfactant, vegetable oil concentrate, fenazaquin, “proprietary miticide” (referred to as Pro1), bifenazate, and fenpyroximate. Miticide efficacy was rated based on the number of SRM recorded on collected leaves and plant damage ratings using an arbitrary index (from 0 = no bronzing to 4 = 100% bronzing). Characteristic symptoms of leaf injury included purple or bronzed leaf color, leaf dryness and roughening. Fenpyroximate significantly reduced mite numbers three days after application. Additionally, plants treated with fenpyroximate or fenazaquin showed significantly less bronzing compared with the control plants. Overall, fenpyroximate and fenazaquin showed the best performance for the management of O. ilicis on SHB

Mite species (Acari) on blackberry cultivars in organic and conventional farms in Florida and Georgia, USA

This study was carried out to determine mite species on blackberry plants (Rubus spp. (Rosaceae)) in Florida and Georgia, USA, and differences in mite species between organic and conventional blackberry plantings in the area sampled. Surveys were conducted in organic and conventional commercial blackberry plantings from June to October 2016. Leaf samples were collected monthly from nine different blackberry cultivars including ‘Arapaho’, ‘Choctaw’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Kiowa’, ‘Natchez’, ‘Navaho’, ‘Osage’, ‘Ouachita’, and Von. Approximately 20 leaves per blackberry plant were taken. Twenty mite species (a total of 152 mite specimens) belonging to 7 families including Phytoseiidae (9 species), Ascidae (1), Cheyletidae (1), Erythraeidae (1), Stigmaeidae (1), Tetranychidae (4) and Tarsonemidae (3) were identified during the study. It was found that the abundance of predatory mites collected in organic farms was over 2-fold higher (105) than in conventional farms (47), which may be related to pesticide use on these commercial farms. Future surveys should provide a list of predatory species, which may hold potential for biological control of economically important pest mites