Árpád Szabó

Pest management systems affect composition but not abundance of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in apple orchards

We examined the faunal composition and abundance of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in apple orchards under different pest management systems in Hungary. A total of 30 apple orchards were surveyed, including abandoned and organic orchards and orchards where integrated pest management (IPM) or broad spectrum insecticides (conventional pest management) were applied. A total of 18 phytoseiid species were found in the canopy of apple trees. Species richness was greatest in the organic orchards (mean: 3.3 species/400 leaves) and the least in the conventional orchards (1.4), with IPM (2.1) and abandoned (2.7) orchards showing intermediate values. The phytoseiid community’s Rényi diversity displayed a similar pattern. However, the total phytoseiid abundance in the orchards with different pest management systems did not differ, with abundance varying between 1.8 and 2.6 phytoseiids/10 leaves. Amblyseius andersoni, Euseius finlandicus, and Typhlodromus pyri were the three most common species. The relative abundance of A. andersoni increased with the pesticide load of the orchards whereas the relative abundance of E. finlandicus decreased. The abundance of T. pyri did not change in the apple orchards under different pest management strategies; regardless of the type of applied treatment, they only displayed greater abundance in five of the orchards. The remaining 15 phytoseiid species only occurred in small numbers, mostly from the abandoned and organic orchards. We identified a negative correlation between the abundance of T. pyri and the other phytoseiids in the abandoned and organic orchards. However, we did not find any similar link between the abundance of A. andersoni and E. finlandicus.

The occurrence of tydeoid mites (Acari: Tydeoidea) in Hungarian vineyards

Abstract A faunal survey was carried out in Hungary between 2011 and 2014 in order to monitor the occurrence of tydeoid species in 139 vineyards located in five distinctive wine regions. Twenty four tydeoid species belonging to the families Tydeidae, Iolinidae and Triophtydeidae have been identified, of which Tydeus californicus (Banks) was the most dominant species. The following thirteen species, viz. Tydeus reticoxus Ueckermann, T. spathulatus Oudemans, Brachytydeus falsa (Livshitz), B. latiuscula (Kuznetzov), B. longiuscula (Kuznetzov), B. matura (Livshitz), B. opima (Kuznetzov & Zapletina), B. tuttlei (Baker), Metalorryia palpsetosa (Karg), Nudilorryia paraferula Kaźmierski, N. mariae Kaźmierski, Pseudolorryia striata Momen & Lundqvist, and Neopronematus neglectus (Kuznetzov) were added to Hungarian fauna. Of the identified species, 18 were collected for the first time in vineyards, and this was also the first record of seven species since their original description.

Biological control of thrips pests (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in a commercial greenhouse in Hungary

Abstract Polyphagous thrips, like western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and onion thrips Thrips tabaci, are major pests in various ornamental and vegetable crops in greenhouses throughout the world. In Hungary, both of these polyphagous thrips species frequently cause severe damage in many greenhouse crops, especially in commercial sweet pepper. Chemical control is not always feasible because of certain ecological characteristics of these thrips species. The commercially available phytoseiid predatory mites like Amblyseius swirskii and anthocorid flower bugs like Orius laevigatus are often used simultaneously for the biological control of severe thrips infestation in sweet pepper cultivation in Hungary. Our observations demonstrated that the polyphagous thrips assemblages were effectively controlled by the combined release of natural enemies, despite the fact that the establishment of O. laevigatus did not seem to be successful in the first year. Overall, the thrips population density remained below the economic threshold in both years. However, the low infestation level of thrips suggests that a single predator release strategy could be applied effectively and still maintain the thrips below the damage threshold in greenhouse sweet pepper.