Natural enemies applied in biological pest control: pathogens in field and mass-reared populations
2005
Schütte, Conny | Bjornson, Susan | Kleespies, Regina G. | Huger, Alois M.
Pathogen-free natural enemies are important for obtaining high efficacy in biological pest control and reliable research data, as pathogens may affect the performance of their host or alter their reproduction and behaviour. In the present article we briefly summarize and up-date an earlier published literature review on pathogens, potential pathogens with unknown host effects, endosymbiotic Wolbachia spp., and unidentified diseases of natural enemies applied in biological pest control. Moreover, microscopic diagnostic studies of natural enemies applied in biological pest control are presented. As many as 151 references in literature including reports on viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes were found for 24 genera of natural enemies. The results are derived from field, laboratory, and massreared populations. During light and electron microscopic studies 18 unidentified potential pathogens and 6 determined pathogen species including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes have been detected in 13 out of 15 investigated species of natural enemies. These results clearly demonstrate a potential threat of diseases in mass productions of beneficial arthropods and arthropods in general. Therefore, more research is needed to increase knowledge on potential pathogens and to develop feasible and reliable diagnostic methods for known pathogens.
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