Integrated management of Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on onion in north‐western Italy: basic approaches for supervised control
2012
Mautino, Giulia C | Bosco, Lara | Tavella, Luciana
BACKGROUND: Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a major pest on onion, Allium cepa L., worldwide. In 2010, research was conducted in a commercial onion field in north‐western Italy in order (i) to evaluate the efficacy of different insecticides and of the SAR activator acibenzolar‐S‐methyl, (ii) to correlate thrips infestation levels with bulb size and weight at harvest and (iii) to implement a reliable thrips sampling method. Efficacy of the three active ingredients spinosad, lambda‐cyhalothrin and acibenzolar‐S‐methyl on local thrips populations were also evaluated in laboratory bioassays. RESULTS: During field surveys, the highest and the lowest thrips infestations were observed in plots treated with lambda‐cyhalothrin and with spinosad and acibenzolar‐S‐methyl respectively. The effectiveness of spinosad was also confirmed in laboratory bioassays. At harvest, bulb size and weight did not significantly differ between treatments. A high correlation with visual inspection made plant beating a suitable sampling method for routine practice, enabling a good estimate of thrips infestation. CONCLUSION: Damage caused by thrips is often not severe enough to warrant the frequent pesticide applications the crops receive in north‐western Italy. The use of spinosad and acibenzolar‐S‐methyl is suggested as an alternative to conventional insecticides for the preservation of natural enemies.
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