BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF YGUS BUG WITH AUGMENTATIVE RELEASES OF ANAPHES IOLE

THE LYGUS BUG IS A MAJOR PEST OF A VARIETY OF CROPS INCLUDING COTTON, SEED ALFALFA AND STRAWBERRIES. CURRENT STRATEGIES RELY ON BROAD SPECTRUM NSETICIDES FOR CONTROL. WHILE THESE INSETICIDES DO REDUCE LYGUS BUG POPULATIONS, SEVERAL UNDESIRABLE SIDE EFFECTS ARE THE RESULT. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF OTHER CROP PESTS IS INHIBITED, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION CAN OCCUR, AND WORKER SAFETY PROBLEMS ARE EXACERBATED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A PRACTICAL LOW COST SYSTEM OF MASS REARING AND AUGMENTATIVE RELEASE OF ANAPHES IOLE TO CONTROL POPULATIONS OF LYGUS HESPERUS, LYGUS ELISUS AND LYGUS LINEOLARIS IN AGRICULTURAL CROPS. THE POTENTIAL OF THIS PARASITOID HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN SMALL FIELD TRIALS. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW IS TO IMPROVE THE CURRENT MASS PRODUCTION SYSTEM FOR THE PARASITOID, AND DEVELOP THE NECESSARY FIELD DATA WITH LARGE SCALE FIELD TRIALS FOR TIMING OF RELEASES, NUMBERS TO RELEASE, AND SAMPLING PROTOCOLS.