Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi against soil-dwelling life stages of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, in plant-growing media

2008 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Ansari ◽  
M. Brownbridge ◽  
F. A. Shah ◽  
T. M. Butt
Keyword(s):  
Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Flower Thrips

scholarly journals Effect of Plant-growing Media on Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, Pupae and Fungus Gnat, Bradysia sp. nr. coprophila, Larvae under Laboratory Conditions

HortScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1323-1326
Author(s):  
Nathan J. Herrick ◽  
Raymond A. Cloyd
Keyword(s):  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus ◽  
Larval Mortality ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungus ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Flower Thrips ◽  
Fungus Gnat

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, and fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.) are major insect pests of greenhouse production systems. Both insect pests have life stages that reside in the soil or plant-growing medium: prepupae and pupae of western flower thrips and fungus gnat larvae. There are unsubstantiated allegations made by a manufacturer that certain plant-growing media that contain a bacterium, Bacillus pumilus, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus intraradices, negatively affect the survival of western flower thrips pupae and fungus gnat larvae. Therefore, we conducted a study involving laboratory experiments replicated over time (2019 and 2020) to investigate the influence of the plant-growing media Pro-Mix BX + Mycorrhizae and Pro-Mix BX + Biofungicide + Mycorrhizae on western flower thrips pupae and fungus gnat larvae. All experiments involved placing western flower thrips pupae or fungus gnat larvae (second and third instar) into 473-mL deli containers with the different treatments (plant-growing media). A 5 × 4-cm section of a yellow sticky card was affixed to the lid of each deli container. After 21 days, the number of western flower thrips or fungus gnat adults that emerged from the growing media and were captured on the yellow sticky cards was recorded. The use of the yellow sticky card was an indirect assessment of western flower thrips pupal or fungus gnat larval mortality. We found none of the plant-growing media tested that contained a bacterium and/or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus affected the survival of western flower thrips pupae or fungus gnat larvae. Therefore, greenhouse producers should be leery of information provided by manufacturers that does not contain valid, scientifically based data.

Effect of Integrating the Entomopathogenic Fungus (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) and the Rove Beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) in Suppressing Western Flower Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Populations Under Greenhouse Conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2085-2093
Author(s):  
Yinping Li ◽  
Raymond A Cloyd ◽  
Nora M Bello
Keyword(s):  
Entomopathogenic Fungus ◽  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Insect Pest ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Greenhouse Production ◽  
Flower Thrips ◽  
Rove Beetle

Abstract Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a destructive insect pest in greenhouse production systems. Therefore, integrating the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, with the soil-dwelling rove beetle, Dalotia coriaria (Kraatz), targeting different aboveground and belowground life stages may help effectively manage western flower thrips populations. Two greenhouse experiments were conducted evaluating five treatments: 1) insecticides (spinosad, pyridalyl, chlorfenapyr, and abamectin), 2) B. bassiana, 3) D. coriaria, 4) B. bassiana and D. coriaria combination, and 5) water control. The estimated mean number of western flower thrips adults captured on yellow sticky cards was significantly lower for the insecticide treatment (mean range: 0–46 western flower thrips adults per yellow sticky card) than the B. bassiana and D. coriaria combination (0.3–105.1 western flower thrips per yellow card) over 8 wk. There were no significant differences in the final foliar damage ratings of chrysanthemum, Dendranthema × grandiflorum (Ramat.) Kitam., plants among the five treatments in experiment 1, but there were significant differences in experiment 2. In experiment 2, chrysanthemum plants across all treatments were not marketable due to western flower thrips feeding damage. Therefore, using B. bassiana and D. coriaria early in production should suppress population growth by targeting both foliar-feeding and soil-dwelling life stages of western flower thrips simultaneously.

scholarly journals Laboratory and Greenhouse Evaluation of a Granular Formulation of Beauveria bassiana for Control of Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingrui Zhang ◽  
Zhongren Lei ◽  
Stuart Reitz ◽  
Shengyong Wu ◽  
Yulin Gao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Beauveria Bassiana ◽  
Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Plant Viruses ◽  
Infection Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Flower Thrips

Western flower thrips (WFT) is one of the most important pests of horticultural crops worldwide because it can damage many different crops and transmit various plant viruses. Given these significant impacts on plant production, novel methodologies are required to maximize regulation of WFT to minimize crop losses. One particular approach is to develop control strategies for the non-feeding, soil-dwelling stages of WFT. Control of these stages could be enhanced through the use of granules impregnated with entomopathogenic fungi mixed in the soil. The use of soil-applied fungi contrasts with existing approaches in which entomopathogenic fungi are formulated as oil-based suspensions or water-based wettable powders for foliar applications against the feeding stages of WFT. To examine the efficacy of this approach, we evaluated the effects of a granular formulation of Beauveria bassiana on the soil-dwelling, pupal phases of Frankliniella occidentalis in laboratory bioassays and greenhouse experiments. Based on micromorphological observations of fungal conidia during the infection process after treatment of WFT with a B. bassiana suspension, fungal conidia complete the process of surface attachment, germination, and penetration of the body wall of the WFT pupa and enter the host within 60 h of treatment. Given these results, we undertook a controlled greenhouse experiment and applied B. bassiana granules to soil used to cultivate eggplants. Populations of F. occidentalis on eggplants grown in treated soil were 70% lower than those on plants grown in the untreated soil after 8 weeks. Furthermore, when measuring the survival and growth of B. bassiana on granules under different soil moisture conditions, survival was greatest when the soil moisture content was kept at 20%. These results indicate that the application of B. bassiana-impregnated granules could prove to be an effective biological control strategy for use against F. occidentalis under greenhouse conditions.

A cold treatment for postharvest control of western flower thrips on strawberry runners

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1649
Author(s):  
P. Williams ◽  
K. M. Green ◽  
B. Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Cold Treatment ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Exposure Period ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Flower Thrips ◽  
Strawberry Runner ◽  
Potential Strategy ◽  
Postharvest Control ◽  
Leaf Disks

In 1998–99, outbreaks of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergrande), western flower thrips (WFT), caused extensive damage to strawberry crops in the Yarra Valley, Victoria. These crops were within 30 km of Toolangi where over 80% of certified strawberry runners for Australia are produced. Commercial growers store runners for various periods of time at temperatures as low as –2°C. Cold temperature disinfestation was evaluated as a potential strategy in a contingency plan to prevent the spread of WFT on strawberry runners. Western flower thrips at various life stages on gerbera flowers (on which they were reared), were placed in small bags, made from the plastic liners used in commercial strawberry runner cartons, together with strawberry runners and exposed to –2°C for periods of 1, 2, 4, or 8 weeks. All WFT died within 4 weeks. Additional experiments were conducted in which WFT, in bags with runners or on gerbera leaf disks in petri dishes, were exposed to –2°C for 3 weeks. Only a few WFT survived these treatments; however, they were moribund. When they were assessed 2 days after completion of the exposure period, all WFT were dead. It was concluded that strawberry runners carrying WFT can be disinfested by exposing WFT to –2°C for 4 weeks and that this should be achievable under commercial conditions.

scholarly journals Effect of Insecticide Drench Applications on Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, Pupae in Growing Media

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 890-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinping Li ◽  
Raymond A. Cloyd ◽  
Nora M. Bello
Keyword(s):  
Frankliniella Occidentalis ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Residual Activity ◽  
Western Flower Thrips ◽  
Insect Growth Regulator ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Growing Media ◽  
Flower Thrips ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Untreated Check

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, is one of the most destructive insect pests of greenhouse-grown horticultural crops. The primary method of managing western flower thrips populations involves applications of insecticides; however, there is no information associated with the effect of the insect growth regulator, pyriproxyfen, or the entomopathogenic fungus, Isaria fumosorosea, on western flower thrips pupae in growing media. Therefore, four laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effect of pyriproxyfen and I. fumosorosea applied as a drench to growing media on western flower thrips pupae. Expt. 1 evaluated the efficacy of pyriproxyfen and I. fumosorosea on western flower thrips pupae. Based on the results from Expt. 1, Expt. 2 assessed the effect of pyriproxyfen in two growing media (LC1 and BM1) on western flower thrips pupae. Expts. 3 and 4 determined the residual activity of pyriproxyfen in growing media on western flower thrips pupae 3, 5, 7, and 14 days after treatments were applied. The pyriproxyfen treatment resulted in a significantly lower estimated mean probability of western flower thrips adults captured on yellow sticky cards (17%) compared with the water control (59%), untreated check (88%), and two I. fumosorosea treatments (46% for 1.0 g and 41% for 2.0 g of Ancora) in Expt. 1. However, for the two growing media in Expt. 2, the estimated mean probability of western flower thrips adults captured on yellow sticky cards was not significantly different between the pyriproxyfen treatment (LC1 = 15%; BM1 = 12%) and the water control (LC1 = 41%; BM1 = 24%). For either the pyriproxyfen treatment or the untreated check, there was no evidence of a significant difference between the two growing media on the estimated mean probability of western flower thrips adults captured on yellow sticky cards. Furthermore, there was no evidence of any residual activity 3 days after drench applications of pyriproxyfen. The results of the study have demonstrated that drench applications of pyriproxyfen are not affecting survival of western flower thrips pupae.

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