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Combined effects of the entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus Apopka-97, and the generalist predator, Dicyphus hesperus, on whitefly populations

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Abstract

The effects of intraguild interactions between Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus Apopka-97 (PFR-97TM) (Wize) Brown and Smith (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) on Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) populations were investigated in tomato greenhouse microcosms. Conditions were established in which interference or synergy would most likely occur; namely, a high number of available whiteflies were combined with large numbers of both D. hesperus and PFR-97TM. We measured live whitefly density in a factorial repeated measures experiment where plants were provided or withheld releases of D. hesperus and/or applications of PFR-97TM for 6 weeks. Releases of D. hesperus were made at a rate of 10 adults/plant during the first and third week and PFR-97TM suspensions were applied with a backpack sprayer at a rate of 18 × 107, 1.3 × 107 and 1.2 × 107 viable blastospores/ml during the first, third and fourth week, respectively. Results revealed a non-significant interaction effect between D. hesperus and PFR-97TM, indicating that their actions were independent. Individual whitefly reductions of 48% and 35% were achieved by PFR-97TM and D. hesperus, respectively. Collectively, the natural enemies reduced whitefly densities by 62% relative to the controls. The density of D. hesperus adults was unaffected by multiple applications of PFR-97TM. These results suggest that the combination of generalist entomopathogenic fungi and generalist predators has the potential to cause increased pest mortality despite evidence of minimal interference.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NSERC Biocontrol Network, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the British Columbia Greenhouse Research Council. We would like to thank Ian Bercovitz for his assistance with the statistical analyses. We are very grateful to Jasmin Gee for her assistance with the collection of experimental data and to Randy Thompson for his periodic assistance. The commercial formulation PFR-97TM was provided by Certis USA, Columbia MD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 1S6

    Colleen R. Alma, Mark S. Goettel, Bernard D. Roitberg & David R. Gillespie

  2. Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, AB, Canada, T1J 4B1

    Mark S. Goettel

  3. Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 1000, Agassiz, BC, Canada, V0M 1A0

    David R. Gillespie

Authors
  1. Colleen R. Alma
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  2. Mark S. Goettel
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  3. Bernard D. Roitberg
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  4. David R. Gillespie
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Correspondence to Colleen R. Alma.

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Alma, C.R., Goettel, M.S., Roitberg, B.D. et al. Combined effects of the entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus Apopka-97, and the generalist predator, Dicyphus hesperus, on whitefly populations. BioControl 52, 669–681 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-006-9053-1

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