The population growth of aphids can be sometimes very fast, leading to great damage in several crops. It is therefore very important to locate the aphids and take necessary measures. Biobest offers a whole series of parasitoids and predators against aphids.

• Introduce Aphidius ervi as Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Potato aphid) or Aulacorthum solani (Glasshouse potato aphid) occur.
• Introduce 2 Aphidius/m² in and around hot spots.

• Introduce 50-100 Adalia-larvae/m² in the immediate neighbourhood of aphid hot spots, as an addition to Aphidius and Aphidoletes.

• Introduce Aphelinus abdominalis as Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Potato aphid) or Aulacorthum solani (Glasshouse potato aphid) occur.
• Introduce 2 Aphelinus/m² in and around hot spots.

• Preventive: Introduce 0,1 Aphidius colemani/m² per week
• Curative : After detection of aphid: introduce minimum 0,5 Aphidius colemani/m² per week, during 3 weeks; until a sufficient number is parasitized.
• Disperse Aphidius in Bio-Boxes (± 25 boxes).

• Preventive: Introduce 0,1-0,2 Aphidoletes/m²/week
• Curative: When aphids are detected in the crop, introduce 0,5-1 Aphidoletes/m²/week
• Open the bottle and place this bottle under the aphid hot spot, or disperse Aphidoletes, in heaps, on a moist substrate.
• Remark: The gall midges have an excellent ability to search, but they can become disorientated by frequent use of a sulphur steamer.

Frequent pests in bulbous plants
Bulb mites can cause a lot of damage in the bulbgrowing industry. In particular during the multiplication of bulbs and their culture. Thanks to the predatory mite Hypoaspis aculeifer an effective biological control is recently possible.

• Preventive: Introduce 0,1-0,2 Aphidoletes/m²/week
• Curative: When aphids are detected in the crop, introduce 0,5-1 Aphidoletes/m²/week
• Open the bottle and place this bottle under the aphid hot spot, or disperse Aphidoletes, in heaps, on a moist substrate.
• Remark: The gall midges have an excellent ability to search, but they can become disorientated by frequent use of a sulphur steamer.

Coddling moths can cause serious losses in apple and pear cultures by infecting fruitlets which results in premature losses or storage problems.

• Hang 2 big catch lamps per ha above the crop, to catch as many moths as possible
• Hang minimum 2 Attract^® pheromone lures per ha
  • Hang the Attract^® pheromone lures minimum 50 m from each other to prevent a mixture of the pheromones.
  • Replace the pheromone capsules regularly (every 4 weeks)

A population of spider mites can grow very rapidly, especially under dry and warm conditions. Fast action is recommended to keep the spider mite densities as low as possible.

• Introduce preventively 4-6 Amblyseius californicus/m² in the whole greenhouse. Repeat regularly (depending on the spider mite pressure), but at least every 3 weeks. Start with this introduction after the waiting period of the last chemical treatment, but certainly before the end of March.
• This predatory mite can survive a few weeks without nourishment and is resisted against low temperatures in early spring.

• In combination with Phytoseiulus at a spider mite damage.
• Introduce locally 1 pot (250 pupae) during 4-6 weeks in hot spots.
• Remark: The gall midges have an excellent ability to search, but they can become disorientated by frequent use of a sulphur steamer.

• Introduce minimum 6 Phytoseiulus/m² as soon as the first spider mite is detected. The exact amount depends on the severeness of the spider mite damage.
• In and especially around hot spots: 20 to 40 Phytoseiulus/m².
• Spread well in the working direction.

The greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) is a typical greenhouse pest that affects many crops.

• The predatory mites are delivered per 10.000 or 25.000 in a 1 liter plastic pot. The composition of the carrier exists of bran and vermiculite.
• Preventively disperse 20 pieces/m² on the leaves. As soon as the first preys are detected, spread 100 pieces/m² where whitefly or thrips were located.

• Available in tubes on cards.
• Preventive: Introduce 1,5 Encarsia/m² per week.
• Curative: Introduce after whitefly is detected in the crop, weekly min. 3 Encarsia/m² until a sufficient number of whiteflies are parasitized  (80-90%).
• In hot spots: introduce 5-10 Encarsia/m² per week until an equilibrium is reached.

Voracious on several crops
Caterpillar damage usually occurs in late summer and early autumn, but recently some caterpillars have been causing problems throughout the growing season. There are several biological control methods of caterpillar control.

• Hang 2 big catch lamps per ha above the crop, to catch as many moths as possible.
• Hang minimum 2 Attract^® pheromone lures per ha.
  • Hang the Attract^® pheromone lures minimum 50 m from each other to prevent a mixture of the pheromones.
  • Replace the pheromone capsules regularly (every 4 weeks).

Adult weevils feed at night producing telltale notches around the edges of leaves and flowers. The damage is most severe when caused by the voracious larvae, feeding on roots. Heterorhabditis-System provides rapid and effective control of vine weevil.
 

• Use at small damage of black vine weevil larvae, 0,5 million nematodes/m².
• At a severe damage the dose has to be increased to 1 million nematodes/m².

Adult thrips are small, elongated insects with typical fringed wings. They measure about 1 mm, and have a greyish or yellow to brown colour. The two most common harmful species are the onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) and the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis).

• Disperse locally Orius species in hot spots to control thrips quickly.