Evaluation of Orius Species for Biological Control of Frankliniella Occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae )
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Evaluation of Orius species for biological control of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae ) Promotor: Prof. dr. J.C. van Lenteren Hoogleraar Entomologie, Wageningen Universiteit Committee members: Prof. dr. P. De Clercq, Universiteit Gent, België Prof. dr. M. Dicke, Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr. S. Maini, Bologna University, Italy Dr. R. van den Meiracker, Entocare, Wageningen Evaluation of Orius species for biological control of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Maria Grazia Tommasini Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. Ir. L. Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 8 september 2003 des namiddags te 13:30 in de Aula M.Grazia Tommasini (2003) Evaluation of Orius species for biological control of Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Thesis Wageningen University – with references – with summaries in English, Dutch and Italian Subject headings /Thysanoptera / Frankliniella occidentalis / Heteroptera / Orius leavigatus / Orius majusculus / Orius niger / Orius insidiosus / Biology / Diapause / Biological control. ISBN: 90-5808-900-2 Table of contents Acknowledgements vii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Collection of Orius spp. in Italy 65 Chapter 3 Biological characteristics and predation capacity of four Orius species on two 77 preys species Chapter 4 Occurrence of diapause in Orius laevigatus 105 Chapter 5 Enhancement of thrips control in protected sweet pepper crops by releases 155 of the predator of Orius laevigatus Chapter 6 Enhancement of thrips control in protected eggplant crops by releases of the 177 predator Orius laevigatus Chapter 7 Summarising discussion 193 Summary 205 Riassunto 207 Samenvatting 209 List of publications 211 Curriculum vitae 214 Acknowledgements I want to thank all those who contributed and helped me in the making of this thesis. First of all, I want to express all my gratitude to Joop van Lenteren for encouraging me to follow the PhD programme of Wageningen, for being my promoter and friend, for his support throughout my research and moreover, for helping me a lot and patiently during the writing of the thesis. Secondly, I thank my late friend Giorgio Nicoli, who strongly supported me during my research, spending hours discussing with me my protocols and results, and also for the pleasant times together during our business trips. When he died life stopped for a while and I had some doubts whether I would have finished my thesis or not. He was a very important figure in all our research group at Bologna and Cesena and I miss him. The crucial and constant presence of Joop van Lenteren and of his wife Marianne, helped me to carry on with this thesis. Special thanks to Giovanni Burgio, who helped me a lot on statistical analysis of my researches, contributing with good suggestions to improve my work. I also thank Stefano Maini for his critical support, friendship and willingness during the writing of the thesis. It was a very pleasant and fruitful experience to work together with Antoon Loomans. I thank him for his precious assistance during my stay in Wageningen and for his unbelievable patience and for critically reading part of the manuscript. I also much appreciated working together with several MSc students of Bologna University: Stefano Foschi, Fabio Mosconi, Simona Macchini and Gianni Conti. Much of their work is included in this thesis. I am grateful to Luciana Tavella of DIVAPRA of Torino University, for training me in Anthocorid taxonomy. I am thankful to the technical extension service of Biolab-Cesena (nowadays Bioplanet) for their assistance in arranging contacts for sampling and for their collaboration in collecting some samples of Orius spp. I express my gratitude to other people who in some way also contributed to this thesis: Henrik F. BrØdsgaard, Jorge Riudavets, Trevor Lewis, Valerio Vicchi, E. Yano, John R. Ruberson, Giuseppe Cocuzza, Donatella Galazzi, Antonio Amore, Antonella Suzzi, M.V. Hartman and many others. A big thanks to my parents Romana Mariotti and Ottavio Tommasini, that gave me a very special moral support during all my studies, and highly contributed to the attainment of this result. I also want to thank who helped me in learning English, which certainly contributed to carry on with my thesis. My best teachers were Debbie Hughes and James Collins. Finally, I thank all the people who contributed to this thesis mainly through their moral support and invaluable friendship. I want to mention some of them directly: my sister Monica Tommasini, and some good friends of mine Daniele Belardinelli, Monica Di Vuolo, Stefano Sanniti, James Collins and Monica Ceccaroni. The research work presented in this thesis was financially supported mostly by the EC- project CAMAR (n. 8001-CT90-0026). M.Grazia Tommasini vii Chapter 1 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Abstract In this introduction the status of the thrips pest species in Europe and in particular of Frankliniella occidentalis (Western Flower Thrips), the most important pest thrips in Europe nowadays, is presented based on literature information up to 2000. Different thrips genera are mentioned amongst the Terebrantia suborder and of the Thripidae family: Thrips , Taeniothrips , Heliothrips , Parthenothrips , Hercinothrips and two genera of the sub-order Tubulifera, family Phlaeothripidae: Liothrips and Haplothrips . Information regarding the biology, distribution and host plants of thrips are summarized. The damage induced by thrips, in relation to the different parts of the plant attacked, is discussed. The indirect damage as well as transmission of viruses, bacteria and fungi is described. Regarding F. occidentalis (Western Flower Thrips), also systematic notes and a detailed description of its biology, its distribution in Europe, of the plants damaged world-wide and in Europe in particular, is provided. The typical injuries inflicted by F. occidentalis on different crops are discussed. Methods of sampling are shortly described. The different methods to control F. occidentalis are summarized. F. occidentalis is difficult to control chemically and treatments have to be repeated frequently, causing residue problems on food and disruption of Integrated Pest Management programs against others pests. A biological control system can reduce both the pest population and virus incidence. The main candidates as natural enemies for control of thrips emerging from this literature study and from an evaluation of all present data, are Phytoseidae and Anthocoridae. 1.1. Introduction Thrips is the common name given to insects of the order of Thysanoptera ( thusanos (Greek), a fringe; pteron (Greek), a wing). The order includes over 5,000 species, most of which are small in dimension and slender in body (in temperate regions the length generally ranges from 1-2.5 mm) with a distinct head (Palmer et al. , 1989). Morphology of the mouth parts differs from one family to another but feeding behaviour is generally similar, being characterized by rasping, puncturing and sucking (Borden, 1915). One oddity of the behaviour of some thrips species is that occasionally they can attack man by piercing the skin (Bailey, 1936). The front and hind wings are very slender, featuring a wide fringe of hairs and only a few veins or none at all. Wing length varies according to group, species and sex. Macropterous, brachypterous and sometimes apterous adults can all be encountered. In the sub-order of Terebrantia the wings lie parallel to each other while in the Tubulifera sub-order they are overlapping so that only one is completely visible (Figure 1). The mouth parts of these insects are typically asymmetrical, presenting maxillary and labial palps (Mound, 1971). The antennae are short and usually comprise from six to nine segments. The eyes are compound and three ocelli are present on the top of the head. The legs feature single- or double-segmented tarsi ending in a vesicle (or bladder). 1 This introduction is largely based on the following paper: Tommasini M.G. and Maini S., 1995. Frankliniella occidentalis and other thrips harmful to vegetable and ornamental crops in Europe. Agricultural University Wageningen Papers 95 (1): 1-42. 1 Introduction Figure 1: Living (left-hand side) and mounted (right-hand side) thrips of the two sub-orders compared (from Lewis, 1973). The abdomen is divided into eleven segments but only ten are visible. The end segments of Terebrantia usually taper to a cone in females and are bluntly rounded-off in males, whereas in both sexes of Tubulifera the tenth segment forms a tube ending in a terminal whorl of setae. Details of the structure of external genitalia have been described by Melis (1935), Doeksen (1941), Jones (1954) and Priesner (1964). Terebrantia feature a more marked sexual dimorphism than Tubulifera, with males being smaller and of paler colour. 2 Chapter 1 Thrips reproduction is either partially or totally parthenogenetic. Either way, the various species are all either arrhenotokous or thelytokous and, according to most authors, females are always diploid and males haploid (Lewis, 1973). As in all typically bisexual thrips species, adults usually mate within two or three days after the last pupal moult, each male being capable of fertilizing more than one female. The sexes locate each other by means of a sensory cone situated at the top of the antennae. Most thrips are oviparous. The white or yellowish coloured eggs are cylindrical and bean shaped and large with respect to the size of the female body. The eggs of Tubulifera are larger than those of Terebrantia, each sub-order also featuring a different egg-laying behaviour. Both, zoophagous and phytophagous Terebrantia species, insert isolated eggs into the plant tissue by means of an ovipositor. The Tubulifera species, that have no saw-like ovipositor generally attach the eggs onto plant surfaces by means of gelatinous substances. Egg mortality is usually greater in Tubulifera than in Terebrantia. There are four or five instars between egg and adult; generally four in Terebrantia and five in Tubulifera, as shown in figure 2.