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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Spontaneous ground covers comprise ecological infrastructures that may provide food, alternative hosts
and shelter for parasitoids in olive groves, thus contributing to biological control of pests. This study
investigated the effects of herbicide application, tillage, and conservation of spontaneous ground covers
on parasitism of the anthophagous generation of the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bernard). The study was
performed in northeast Portugal in 2011 and 2013 in 14 and 15 olive groves, respectively, with different
management types. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to analyze olive moth emergence,
overall parasitism rate, relative abundance of parasitoid species, and total parasitismof olive moth larvae.
Ageniaspis fuscicollis (Dalman) accounted for the majority of the parasitism, followed by Elasmus flabellatus
(Fonscolombe). In both years, ground cover management type did not influence the emergence rate of
P. oleae. However, overall parasitism rate, emergence of A. fuscicollis, and the number of A. fuscicollis
emerging per olive moth larvae varied among years. In 2011, the latter response variables were significantly
higher in groves with spontaneous ground cover than in those treated with herbicide, indicating a
negative effect of herbicides on parasitoids. Although tilled groves obtained higher values for these
variables in 2013, parasitism rates were generally very low. In sum, the management of ground covers
seemed to influence the overall rate of P. oleae parasitism in some years, but longer-term experiments
are needed to clarify this trend.
Description
Keywords
Conservation biological control Olive grove Non-crop vegetation Ageniaspis fuscicollis Elasmus flabellatus
Citation
Villa, María; Santos, Sónia A.P.; Mexia, António; Bento, Albino; Pereira, J.A. (2016). Ground cover management affects parasitism of Prays oleae (Bernard). Biological Control. ISSN 1049-9644. 92, p. 72-77
Publisher
Elsevier