BACKGROUND: Fertiliser applications are well-established tools in pasture-based agricultural landscapes. This study focuses on the impact of phosphorus (P) fertiliser on grass grub (Costelytra giveni), a major pasture pest. This research investigates the interplay between P, plant growth, and grass grub fitness in Epichloë endophyte-infected perennial ryegrass (Epichloë sp. LpTG-3 strain AR37) and meadow fescue infected with E. uncinata (strain MaxR; AR1017), alongside their endophyte-free counterparts. In a glasshouse trial, plants were grown in P-enriched soil with varying Olsen P levels (9, 18, 28 or 78 mg L-1), and grass grubs were introduced. Their survival and weight gain, and plant performance were measured. In a bioassay, grass grubs were placed in specimen vials with P-enriched soils (Olsen P levels 9, 18, 28 and 78 mg L-1) and provided with identical plant material to assess their diet consumption and weight gain.
RESULTS: In the glasshouse trial, results highlighted a notable decrease in the survival of grass grub on plants infected with MaxR endophyte, but not with AR37, as well as increasing soil Olsen P levels in both plant species. While grass grub decreased plant performance at the low Olsen P level (9 mg L-1), this effect diminished with increasing P. Likewise, results from the bioassay showed a decrease in diet consumption with increasing soil Olsen P levels. In both trials increasing Olsen P levels correlated with diminished grass grub performance, revealing a nuanced relationship between soil fertility and pest dynamics.
CONCLUSIONS: The study underscores the pivotal role of selected Epichloë endophyte-grass associations in mitigating grass grub damage across varying phosphorus levels. This study highlights the potential to integrate P applications for sustainable pest control against grass grub. Further field trials are required to validate these findings. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

The sticky trap is probably the most cost-effective tool for catching insect pests, but the identification and counting of insects on sticky traps is very labour-intensive. When investigating the automatic identification and counting of pests on sticky traps using computer vision and machine learning, two aspects can strongly influence the performance of the model - the colour of the sticky trap and the device used to capture the images of the pests on the sticky trap. As far as we know, there are no available image datasets to study these two aspects in computer vision and deep learning algorithms. Therefore, this paper presents a new dataset consisting of images of two pests commonly found in post-harvest crops - the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) - captured with three different devices (DSLR, webcam and smartphone) on blue, yellow, white and transparent sticky traps. The images were sorted by device, colour and species and divided into training, validation and test parts for the development of the deep learning model.

BACKGROUND: Eutetranychus banksi (McGregor) (Acari: Tetranychidae) is an invasive spider mite native to the Americas. In 2013 it invaded the main citrus-growing area in Spain producing significant damage and requiring chemical treatments. This work examines its population structure, spatial distribution and presents a sampling plan, which will assist in developing an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy.
RESULTS: There were differences in the population structure on fruits and leaves, as well as between leaves from different flushes with fluctuations over time correlated with variations in sex ratio. No differences in aggregation at the different plant strata were found; however, immature stages showed a higher aggregation than adults, with females being the sex with the lowest aggregation. There was a high correlation between E. banksi motile forms and adult females with the total population, thus both were used as reference stages to develop sampling plans. We recommend binomial sampling of 100 leaves for female monitoring, sampling two leaves per tree on 25 trees per transect regularly spaced along two diagonal transects, the first oriented northeast to southwest and the second northwest to southeast. To be more accurate, it is possible to survey the presence/absence of motile forms. In this case, four leaves per tree in 50 trees per transect should be monitored.
CONCLUSIONS: This study has resulted in the first sampling plan for E. banksi, one of the most damaging citrus mite species described so far. The binomial sampling plan involves monitoring reference developmental stages, as well as a reasonable sample size that makes it applicable in field sampling for decisions making based on a future intervention threshold. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

BACKGROUND: While pesticides are essential for crop protection and food security, they pose serious risks to human health and the environment. Agro-input dealers can play an important role in mitigating pesticide risks, given that they are a major source of pesticides and plant health information for many developing-country farmers. In this article, we assess the willingness of agro-input dealers to offer integrated pest management-based advisory services and promote pesticide risk reduction through a voluntary certification scheme.
RESULTS: Using survey data from 557 agro-input dealers in Uganda and a discrete choice experiment, we find that the proposed certification scheme is significantly valued by agro-input dealers, particularly for its potential to provide training opportunities and ensure safety to human health and the environment. Agro-input dealers have a positive attitude towards a certification scheme that restricts the sale of high-risk pesticide products, especially if it stimulates additional income-generating opportunities. Further analysis shows that preferences for voluntary certification attributes are influenced by certification experience, agro-dealership experience, business ownership status and incidence of acute pesticide poisoning.
CONCLUSIONS: The study findings demonstrate that agro-input dealers are conscious of pesticide risks to human and environmental health and are keen to participate in a certification scheme promoting safer plant protection products. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

BACKGROUND: Long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting (LLIN) has been used to deliver contact insecticides as an integrated pest management tool for stored product insect pests in food facilities. Although the presence of food is known to improve insect recovery after exposure, it is not clear whether food nutritional quality plays a role. Here, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum adults were exposed to two commercially available LLINs, Carifend (active ingredient α-cypermethrin) and D-Terrence (deltamethrin), then transferred to Petri dishes with foods with varying nutritional quality (e.g., 0-100% ratios of flour to non-nutritive cellulose). We investigated the effects of nutrition, LLIN type, and exposure time on post-exposure recovery, mortality, and mobility.
RESULTS: After exposure for 2-168 h, the immediate mortality of T. castaneum adults ranged from 0.5% to 91.0% with Carifend and 0% to 75.3% with D-Terrence. Adult recovery and delayed mortality were significantly affected by nutritional quality, LLIN type, exposure time, and recovery time. For both LLINs, adult recovery increased over time, with a trend for higher recovery and lower mortality with increasing nutritional quality and decreasing exposure time. In addition, adult mobility decreased multiple-fold after Carifend or D-Terrence exposure for 30, 60 or 90 min compared to 10 min.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows nutrition significantly modulates the efficacy of LLIN against T. castaneum, and thus strengthens the rationale for implementing stringent sanitation protocols for food facility managers. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

BACKGROUND: The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an invasive pest that causes economic damage on crops, decreasing fruit yield and quality. Conventional insecticides are frequently used to reduce infestations, but these are often with a limited residual effect, besides being costly and detrimental to nontarget organisms and the environment. In integrated pest management, novel strategies against H. halys are proposed, such as the use of alternative substances with an effect on insect behaviour and mobility. As one of the oldest multi-site fungicides applied against fungal pathogens and as an insecticide and acaricide to control scales and mites, sulfur is proposed here to reduce H. halys infestation in fruit orchards.
RESULTS: Field experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of repeated wettable sulfur applications on H. halys in apple and pear orchards. Sulfur-induced plant phytotoxicity effects and quanti-qualitative parameters on apple fruits were also recorded. Halyomorpha halys infestation was significantly reduced in sulfur-treated compared to untreated pears and apples. Furthermore, sulfur sprays reduced fruit damage caused by H. halys. Besides, sulfur-mediated phytotoxicity such as symptoms on leaves and fruit drop were not observed. Fruit quality was not influenced by sulfur treatments.
CONCLUSIONS: Wettable sulfur seems to be a promising formulation given the low phytotoxicity, considering the technical aspects for an effective use of sulfur-based products to counteract H. halys in pome fruit orchards. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Factors such as extreme temperatures, light radiation, and nutritional condition influence the physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes associated with fruit development and its quality. Besides abiotic stresses, biotic constraints can also affect fruit growth and quality. Moreover, there can be interactions between stressful conditions. However, it is challenging to predict and generalize the risks of climate change scenarios on seasonal patterns of growth, development, yield, and quality of fruit species because their responses are often highly complex and involve changes at multiple levels. Advancements in genetic editing technologies hold great potential for the agricultural sector, particularly in enhancing fruit crop traits. These improvements can be tailored to meet consumer preferences, which is crucial for commercial success. Canopy management and innovative training systems are also key factors that contribute to maximizing yield efficiency and improving fruit quality, which are essential for the competitiveness of orchards. Moreover, the creation of habitats that support pollinators is a critical aspect of sustainable agriculture, as they play a significant role in the production of many crops, including fruits. Incorporating these strategies allows fruit growers to adapt to changing climate conditions, which is increasingly important for the stability of food production. By investing in these areas, fruit growers can stay ahead of challenges and opportunities in the industry, ultimately leading to increased success and profitability. In this review, we aim to provide an updated overview of the current knowledge on this important topic. We also provide recommendations for future research.

Since the invasion of the sorghum aphid Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald), farmers in the sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) production region in the Great Plains of the U.S. have faced significant crop damage and reduced yields. One widely used practice to aid in managing sorghum aphids is pest monitoring, which often results in field-level insecticide applications when an economic threshold is reached. However, relying on this traditional management practice includes the application of insecticides to non-infested plants. To reduce insecticide usage in sorghum, we proposed spraying individual plants when aphids are present or absent compared to traditional spraying based on a standard economic threshold using field replicate plots over two summer seasons. The experimental results of this study indicated fewer aphids in plots managed with an economic threshold, followed by randomly sprayed and plant-specific treatments compared with the untreated control treatment. Therefore, compared with traditional management, those treatments can be alternative strategies for managing aphids on sorghum within our field plot study.

Social paper wasps regularly prey upon lepidopteran larvae, some of which are economically impactful agricultural pest species. We examined the potential of native North American Polistes metricus Say (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and Polistes fuscatus (Fabricius) for biocontrol of Brassica L. pests in an experimental setting. First, we translocated P. metricus to one-half of a divided screened hoop house and placed a mix of 4th-5th instar lepidopteran larvae (Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Pieris spp. Schrank (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)) on half of the broccoli plants on both sides of the hoop house. We recorded and replaced missing caterpillars daily, and assessed leaf damage after 1 wk. P. metricus was 100% effective at removing all caterpillars from the wasp side of the hoop house, and plant damage by caterpillars was significantly reduced in the presence of wasps. We then replicated the study using a different combination of Polistes (fuscatus) and Brassica crop (kale) with a 2 × 2 experimental design in which plants had either T. ni larvae added or absent (factor 1), and were either covered with insect mesh or left exposed (factor 2). By the second day of exposure to these pest species, wasps removed over 80% of the larvae within 3 h of placing them on the plants. We discuss implications of this study for the potential use of native Polistes wasps as an integrated pest management strategy.

Entomopathogenic fungi capable of establishing mutualistic endophytic relationships with plants have a tremendous potential as biocontrol agents of insect pests. While fungi have long played an important and highly effective role in pest suppression, the utility of endophytic entomopathogenic fungi in pest management is a relatively new and emerging topic of biocontrol. Here we discuss the relevance of endophytic fungi to plant health in general, synthesize the current knowledge of the effectiveness of endophytic entomopathogenic fungi against diverse insect pests, discuss the indirect plant-mediated effects of endophytic entomopathogenic fungi on arthropods, and describe the diverse benefits of endophytic fungi to plants that are likely to affect herbivores and plant pathogens as well. Lastly, we consider major challenges to incorporating endophytic entomopathogenic fungi in biocontrol, such as their non-target effects and field efficacy, which can be variable and influenced by environmental factors. Continued research on endophyte-insect-plant-environment interactions is critical to advancing our knowledge of these fungi as a sustainable pest management tactic. © 2024 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.