LABORATORY AND GLASSHOUSE SCREENING OF PESTICIDES FOR ADVERSE-EFFECTS ON THE PARASITE ENCARSIA-FORMOSA GAHAN

Glasshouse screening of ten pesticides and the effect of water damping showed that all of the pesticides, with the possible exceptions of quinomethionate and heptenophos, were suitable for use in integrated control programmes involving Encarsia formosa. About 50 pesticides were screened in the laboratory for residual effects on adult E. formosa. They were grouped according to whether their effects were harmful, moderate or negligible. Acaricides, except quinomethionate, had negligible effects; fungicides generally had negligible effects though a few had moderate effects. Insecticides were equally divided between those which were harmful or moderate in effect. Individual examples are discussed more fully in relation to previous work and their commercial use in integrated control programmes. The two screening methods produced similar results though the laboratory method had the advantage of being much more rapid. Attention is drawn to the need for a simple test to identify pesticides having sublethal effects on natural enemies and for the standardisation of test methods. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd