Effects of Ground Cover Management on Insect Predators and Pests in a Mediterranean Vineyard.

Conservative techniques, such as ground cover management, could help promote viticulture sustainability, which is a goal of conservation biological control, by providing shelter and food sources for predatory insects. A field experiment was conducted in a Mediterranean vineyard to evaluate ground cover management impacts on predatory insect and potential grapevine pest abundance and diversity, both on the ground and in the grapevine canopy. Three different ground cover management techniques (tillage, spontaneous cover and flower-driven cover) were tested for two years (2016 and 2017).

Effects of azadirachtin on the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Effects of sublethal azadirachtin exposure to the biological performance of Tetranychius urticae Koch was studied under laboratory conditions. Bioassay was used to asses the effect of different concentrations of azadirachtin on longevity, fecundity, fertility, and offspring development. Azadirachtin (64 and 128 ppm) affected fecundity and mortality but had no effect on fertility and offspring development.