<p><strong>Availability of alternative foods can influence the impact of pesticides on predatory mites (Acari): a summary of the evidence*</strong></p>

• DOI: 10.11646/zoosymposia.6.1.21
• Publication Date: 2019-11-12T02:01:38Z
• Authors: CARLO DUSO; ALBERTO POZZEBON; MARIO BALDESSARI; VINCENZO GIROLAMI; GINO ANGELI; PAOLA TIRELLO; MAURO LORENZON; VALERIA MALAGNINI; GIUSEPPINA PELLIZ...
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; 2. Zero hunger; Phytoseiidae; biological control; alternative foods; pollen; grape downy mildew; pesticides; 13. Climate action; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences

Generalist predatory mites belonging to the Phytoseiidae play a major role in keeping phytophagous below economic threshold levels European apple orchards and vineyards. Apart from their primary prey, these phytoseiids can exploit range of other foods, among which pollen plant pathogenic fungi are very important. The ability generalist feed on alternative foods is importance for persistence perennial crops. Pesticides exert dramatic effects mite communities, be more severe predators than mites, with practical consequences pest management. Several factors intrinsic (e.g. resistance stress) extrinsic nature immigration) influence response populations pesticide applications. Environmental conditions, particular availability could affect resilience after Here we evaluate applications two crop systems: grape. In former, increasing abundance through appropriate grass management resulted less pronounced negative some insecticides Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans). controlled laboratory experiment, demonstrated that fresh reduced effect pesticides fecundity predator. grape system, found positive pathogen downy mildew (GDM) Amblyseius andersoni (Chant) populations, while had impact. GDM plants favored colonization by beneficial treated implications