SBIR-STTR Award

The Lygus bug is a major pest of a variety of crops including cotton, seed alfalfa and strawberries. Current strategies rely on broad spectrum insecticides for control. While these insecticides do reduce Lygus bug populations, several undesirable side effects are the result. Biological control of other crop pests is inhibited, environmental contamination can occur, and worker safety problems are exacerbated. The objective of this proposal is to develop a practical low cost system of mass rearing and augmentative release of Anaphes iole to control populations of Lygus hesperus, Lygus elisus and Lygus lineolaris in agricultural crops. The potential of this parasitoid has been demonstrated in small field trials. What needs to be done now is to improve the current mass production system for the parasitoid, and develop the necessary field data with large scale field trials for timing of releases, numbers to release, and sampling protocols.

Anticipated Results:
With the development of an efficient low cost mass production of Anaphes iole, large numbers of the parasitoid could be released at appropriate times to parasitize Lygus bug eggs. This activity has the potential of substantially reducing Lygus populations in agricultural crops. By using the parasitoid to control Lygus instead of pesticides, many of the problems related to pesticide use could be reduced. These would include insecticide resistance, environmental contamination, and worker safety concerns.

This project proposal is for the research required for the development of a biological control program for Lygus spp. Lygus bugs are major pets in a variety of crops, including strawberry, cotton, and seed alfalfa. Current control methods utilizing broad spectrum insecticides have numerous undesirable side effects, such as disruption of other pest controls, environmental contamination and hazards to farm workers. Work completed during the Phase I research effort of this project has demonstrated that augmentative biological control of Lygus using release of an egg parasitoid, Anaphes iole is feasible. Field release trials have demonstrated significant reductions of the pest and resulting damage in strawberry, and laboratory trials have indicated that significant improvements in rearing efficiencies can be expected. We anticipate augmentative releases will be competitive with existing chemical control methods. We propose to continue to develop Lygus biological control through the development of reliable guidelines for parasite release and through the development of efficient rearing protocols and quality assurance mechanisms.

Anticipated Results:
With the development of an efficient low cost mass production of Anaphes iole, large number of the parasitoid could be released at appropriate times to parasitize Lygus bug eggs. This approach has the potential to substantially reduce Lygus populations in agricultural crops. By using the parasitoid to control Lygus instead of pesticides, many of the problems related to pesticide use could be reduced. These include insecticide resistance, environmental contamination and worker safety concerns. In addition, reduction in pesticide use for Lygus control could significantly enhance the biological control of other pest species.