Is it possible to enhance the biological control of aphids in an apple orchard with flowering strips? | [Est-il possible d'améliorer la lutte biologique contre les pucerons dans un verger de pommiers avec des bandes de plantes à fleurs?]
1999
Vogt, H. ((Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Dossenheim (Allemagne). Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops)) | Weigel, A.
In one half of an orchard a grass mixture was used as green cover, whereas in the other half a mixture of flowering plants was sown in alternation with grass strips in every second alleyway. The population development of aphids and beneficials was monitored, the phenology of the flowering plants and the attractiveness of the flowers for syrphids was observed. In each year Dysaphis plantaginea Pass. (Homoptera, Aphididae) was the dominant aphid species, causing higher infestations in the flowering part of the orchard than in the grass strip part. With regard to Aphis pomi De Geer (Hom., Aphididae) the variants did not differ much and the infestation level was much lower compared with D. plantaginea. The regulating effect of the beneficials on the population development of A. pomi was obvious. Important beneficials were syrphids, cecidomyiids, lacewings, earwigs and spiders. The main reason for the failure of the biological control of D. plantaginea seems to be the inappropriate phenological coincidence between the population development of D. plantaginea, the flowering period and the appearance of the beneficials
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Institut national de la recherche agronomique
