Estefanía Rodríguez

Evaluation of the effect on arthropod populations by using deltamethrin to control Phloeotribus scarabaeoides Bern. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in olive orchards

Field tests were made for the control of an olive insect pest, the olive bark beetle, Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Col: Scolytidae), using the pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin (D) and this insecticide combined with ethylene (D+E), an attractant of the olive bark beetle. The tests were run in olive orchards in the provinces of Granada and Jaén (Andalusia, southern Spain), treating several olive rows so as to create a barrier effect to control the pest attack. The main objective was to evaluate the arthropod fauna affected by these treatments. The different taxa captured have been separated in three different trophic groups: parasitoids, predators and phytophagous. A knock-down effect was found during the first dates in all the functional groups in all cases. The results showed the following trend in arthropod abundance: D+E>D>C. This trend was significant (p<0.05) for predators and phytophagous insects in both zones. The parasitoids of Prays oleae (Lep.: Plutellidae), a major olive pest, were most affected by the treatments, together with several groups of predators such as ants, cantharids, coccinellids and mirids. Data from the captures show the need to determine the optimum time for insecticide application in order to minimise its effect on beneficial insect populations.

Effects of cereal cover crops on the main insect pests in Spanish olive orchards

In olive orchards, which are very common in the Mediterranean region, cover crops are becoming increasingly used to counter problems of erosion. Although such plant covers can provide food and shelter for beneficial insects, mites, and spiders, they may also attract pests. In order to determine their relationships with the main pests in olive orchards, an analysis was made of adult population levels and damage caused in five olive-cultivation zones, in olive orchards with cereal-crop covers and in olive orchards with conventional tillage. The effects of the cereal cover crops on insect pest populations were different and in some cases in opposite direction. Thus cereal cover crops had no impact on the different studied pests, including all those that spend part of their development cycle in the soil, such as Bactrocera oleae, Prays oleae, or Otiorrhynchus cribicollis. However, under certain conditions some pests did show an increase in abundance. Diverse trophic relationships should be investigated in this agroecosystem in future studies in order to develop appropriate crop-management policies.