The Neotropical genus Lenkothrips (Thysanoptera: Heterothripidae): additions to the faunas of Argentina and Brazil with an updated key to species.

Lenkothrips is a Heterothripidae genus with five species known only from South America. These species breed exclusively on flowers and exhibit some degree of host specificity. In the present paper, we describe three further species from Argentina (L.

Heteropteran Bugs Assemblage Associated to Organic Tomato Farms: Knowledge for Pest Management.

The suborder Heteroptera (Hemiptera) includes zoophagous and zoophytophagous species which conform diverse natural enemies' systems with potential to control several horticultural pests. In this study, we report the assemblage structure of heteropteran bugs species inhabiting open-field and greenhouse organic tomato crops and one common adjacent non-crop solanaceous plant, Solanum sisymbriifolium, in North Buenos Aires province, Argentina, aimed to select promissory biocontrol species. Biweekly direct inspection of selected plants was carried out during a 3-year period (2017-2019) to collect hemipteran nymphs and adults.

A new wild strain of Caenorhabditis elegans associated with Allograpta exotica (Syrphidae) in Argentina: an update of its ecological niche and worldwide distribution.

Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living nematode, belonging to the bacterivorous trophic group. Although it was cited in several countries, in different types of ecosystems and in associations with other organisms, the wild habitats of this nematode have not yet been precisely defined. In Argentina, C.

Effect of Spatiotemporal Association and Trophic Interactions Between Aphidophagous Coccinellids Toward Aphid Control.

Predator diversity in a system can have different results on the biological control of pests. Positive results can arise if natural enemies have niche complementarity, whereas negative effects can occur when one enemy interferes with heterospecifics-e.g.

Larval interactions between two aphidophagous coccinellids in sweet pepper.

Antagonistic interactions among predators have the potential to dampen top-down impacts on a shared pest. Strong cannibalism by adults and larvae on eggs along with a stronger intraguild predation by Eriopis connexa on Cycloneda sanguinea (Coccinellidae) than vice versa had been documented. The intensity and direction of these interactions could vary with the larval instar.

Potential of predatory Neotropical ladybirds and minute pirate bug on strawberry aphid.

Laboratory trials were performed to determine the impact of three Neotropical predatory coccinellids (Cycloneda sanguinea, Eriopis connexa and Coleomegilla quadrifasciata) and a minute pirate bug (Orius insidiosus) on Chaetosiphon fragaefolii, an important strawberry aphid pest. The predation on C. fragaefolii nymphs and adults, as well as the time to the first attack of all predators were compared with predation on Aphis gossypii.

Host Plant Use for Oviposition by the Insidious Flower Bug (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae).

The availability of oviposition sites for the predators of arthropod pests is crucial for the success of biological control. The resources for oviposition and offspring survival offered to the predators by crops and the surrounding natural vegetation are relevant in the context of conservation biological control. The endophytic oviposition of Orius insidiosus (Say) depends on the characteristics of the plant tissues.

Abundance of Icerya purchasi (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) and its parasitoid Cryptochaetum iceryae (Diptera: Cryptochaetidae) in Argentina blueberry crops.

Icerya purchasi Maskell is a polyphagous scale pest of ornamentals and several other crops. It has two natural specialist enemies that maintain its populations at low levels: Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant) and Cryptochaetum iceryae (Williston). I.