D3099: Effects of low-risk insecticides on minute pirate bug (Orius insidiosus) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae)

Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is a significant predator of a wide range of economically significant soft-bodied arthropod pests like thrips, aphids, mites, etc. Integrated pest management (IPM) concepts include biological pest control that uses natural enemies like predators and parasitoids as biological control agents to control pests in agricultural cropping systems. Using predatory natural enemies like O. insidiosus is an effective and sustainable method to reduce pest populations in cropping systems. However, insecticides can cause pest resurgence by disrupting natural enemies through lethal and sub-lethal effects. Natural enemies are susceptible to insecticides. The residues of insecticide sprays used to control pest arthropods can be toxic for natural enemies for an extended period, reducing their ability to provide biocontrol and ecosystem services or for inundated releases to achieve control. So, there is a need for compatibility studies before integrating the pesticides with the natural enemies to regulate the arthropod pest population without having direct and/or indirect effects on the life history parameters or population dynamics of natural enemies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the lethal and sublethal effects of two low-risk insecticides, horticultural oil, and insecticidal soap, on O. insidiosus. In this experiment, we evaluated nymphs and adults of O. insidiosus that we treated with two rates (high label rate and 10% dilution of high label rate) of the two insecticide treatments and distilled water as the control under laboratory conditions. We will discuss the effects of horticultural oil and insecticidal soap on O. insidiosus.