The occurrence of beneficial and pest arthropods collected from buckwheat companion plantings on a blueberry and a vegetable farm in north Florida was characterized. Similarity of arthropod diversity at the family level was intermediate (Sørensen index = 0.59). Significantly more pollinators and parasitoids but fewer pests were collected at the blueberry than the vegetable farm. The blueberry farm, therefore, achieved the goal of using companion plants to selectively enhance the impact of natural enemies. This goal was not accomplished at the vegetable farm because relatively large numbers of tarnished plant bugs and other pests attracted to the buckwheat were not controlled by the natural enemies. Se caracterizó la presencia de artrópodos benéficos y plaga recolectados de las plantaciones conjuntas de alforfón, arándanos y hortalizas en una granja de en el norte de la Florida. La similitud de la diversidad de artrópodos a nivel familiar fue intermedia (índice de Sørensen = 0,59). Significativamente se recolectaron más polinizadores y parasitoides, pero menos plagas en el arándano que en la granja de hortalizas. El huerto de arándanos, por lo tanto, logró el objetivo de utilizar plantas de compañía para aumentar selectivamente el impacto de los enemigos naturales. Esta meta no se logró en la granja de hortalizas debido a que un número relativamente grande del chinche Lygus lineolaris y otras plagas atraídas por el alforfón no fuerton controladas por los enemigos naturales.

Populations of the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say), in Florida peach orchards were monitored during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons using yellow pheromone-baited pyramid traps. Peaches were evaluated at harvest for the presence of stink bug injury. A relationship between E. servus trap capture and fruit injury was used to estimate the economic injury level (EIL) for varying scenarios of crop price, per-hectare yield, and control costs. Economic thresholds were then set based on observed E. servus population trends and expected rates of increase. Thresholds were lowest in the period immediately following shuck split due to the rapid increase in E. servus populations during this period. Euschistus servus trap capture trended downward at the time of harvest. Therefore, increased E. servus management early in the Florida peach season provides the greatest overall benefit, whereas late season populations decline independent of management actions. The proposed EIL for Florida peaches determined by this study is 5.53 E. servus per trap over a 14-d trapping period, which was surpassed in only 16 of the 60 recorded trapping periods. This suggests that the current recommended spray frequency may not be economically justified.

Ionizing radiation is used as a phytosanitary treatment to prevent the introduction of pests through trade. Generic doses are a valuable means to increase the number of pest-commodity combinations that can be treated using phytosanitary irradiation. Generic doses allow for the treatment of the entire taxa for which the dose has been approved, allowing for the treatment of untested species. As such, the approval of a generic dose requires substantial supporting data and careful consideration of the risks involved. We adopt the Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) framework, already in widespread use in the field of ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment, to evaluate generic doses for phytosanitary irradiation treatments. Parametric SSDs for Curculionidae and Tephritidae were developed using existing data on efficacious phytosanitary irradiation treatments. The resulting SSDs provided estimates of the taxa coverage expected by the generic dose, along with the margin of uncertainty. The SSD analysis lends support to the existing 150 Gy generic dose for Tephritidae and a proposed 175 Gy generic dose for Curculionidae. The quantitative estimates of risk produced by the SSD approach can be a valuable tool for phytosanitary rule making, improving the process for generic dose development and approval.

The mass rearing of hymenopteran egg parasitoids requires an abundant supply of host eggs. The onset of reproductive diapause and subsequent decline in egg production poses a challenge for parasitoid rearing when using host colonies augmented by field-collected insects. We investigated the application of pyriproxyfen, a juvenile hormone analog, to induce oviposition in diapausing adult kudzu bugs, Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae), and the use of eggs produced by pyriproxyfen-treated kudzu bugs to rear the egg parasitoid, Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). The effects of pyriproxyfen and photoperiod treatments on host mortality, egg production, and rates of parasitoid eclosion from the eggs were used to calculate the parasitoid yield for the different treatment regimes. A combination of pyriproxyfen and a long-day photoperiod increased the parasitoid yield by 87% compared to acetone and a long-day photoperiod. The general applicability of JH-analog mediated egg production for parasitoid rearing is discussed.

Catfacing and gummosis/sap-type injury associated with a heteropteran pest complex were sampled at five peach orchards in southern Florida during two consecutive growing seasons. Trapping and visual surveys indicate that Euschistus servuis (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) was the dominant heteropteran pest in the study orchards. The spatial arrangement of injury indicated a random distribution, as determined by Taylor’s power law. Spatial analysis by distance indices indicated a random arrangement of fruit injury in a majority of the sample site × date combinations and analysis of local clustering did not provide evidence of patches of fruit injury occurring near orchard borders. The coefficients from Taylor’s power law were used to develop sequential sampling plans based on hypothetical injury thresholds. Sequential sampling plans were compared to a simple random sample of 15 sample units using a simulation approach. The sequential sampling plan was able to achieve equivalent levels of accuracy when compared to the 15-unit fixed sampling plan while reducing the number of sample units required to an average of 7.99. The sequential sampling plans developed in this study are an improvement over simple random sampling; however, further research is needed to determine how to best implement sequential sampling of fruit injury in Florida peach orchards to better inform management decisions.