COMPARATIVE COST OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WHITEFLY CONTROL IN POINSETTIA: IS THERE A GAP?

Authors

  • R. G. Van Driesche
  • S. Lyon
  • K. Jacques
  • T. Smith
  • P. Lopes

Abstract

Cost is the principal constraint on the use of biological control against whiteflies in poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Koltz.) crops in the United States. Here we show that a new, lower release rate of the whitefly parasitoid Eretmocerus eremicus Rose and Zolnerowich (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), 0.5 females per plant per week, maintains whiteflies (Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring) at harvest below the economic threshold of 2 live nymphs + pupae per leaf, when used in combination with two mid-crop applications of the insect growth regulator fenoxycarb (Precision®). Cost of this program (for 16.5 cm dia single stem pots, with 30,000 plants under protection) varies from 21 to 34 cents per plant for the season, for cropping periods from 12 to 18 weeks. Shipping costs are calculated and included in estimated costs. These values compare favorably to the real cost of whitefly chemical control incurred by Massachusetts poinsettia growers in fall of 2000, which was 14 cents for a 16.5 cm dia single stem pot, with a range of 1 to 40 cents. Programs consisting of a single application of the systemic insecticide imidacloprid alone cost 12 cents per pot per season. This difference between 21 cents for the biological control program and 14 cents for the chemical control program is the smallest yet reported for biological control of whiteflies in poinsettia.

View this article in BioOne

Downloads

Published

2002-09-01

Issue

Vol. 85, No. 3 (September 2002)

Section

Literature Review Articles

License

Copyright for any article published in Florida Entomologist is held by the author(s) of the article. Florida Entomologist is an open access journal. Florida Entomologist follows terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License (cc by-nc). By submitting and publishing articles in Florida Entomologist, authors grant the FOJ and Florida Entomologist's host institutions permission to make the article available through Internet posting and electronic dissemination, and to otherwise archive the information contained both electronically and in a hard printed version. When used, information and images obtained from articles must be referenced and cited appropriately. Articles may be reproduced for personal, educational, or archival purposes, or any non-commercial use. Permission should be sought from the author(s) for multiple, non-commercial reproduction. Written permission from the author(s) is required for any commercial reproduction.