This is the second of a two-year study involving inundative releases of Trichogramma ostriniae for control of European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, in peppers. Five locations were established within a thirty-mile radius of Lexington, Kentucky using conventional and organic production practices. Each location consists of a control and release plot, separated by at least 1000 feet. Trichogramma ostriniae are being released at each location three times during the growing season in accordance with a degree-day model predicting the phenology of egg laying of the second generation ECB. Sentinel ECB egg masses are placed within each of the control and release plots at all locations on the date of each release and weekly thereafter to determine the percentage of parasitization and to check for drift of the wasps. ECB damaged fruit, yields of individual USDA grades, and total marketable yield will be compared using a T-test.
The first year’s study resulted in an overall average percentage of fruits infested with ECB was significantly lower (1.1%) in the release plots than in the control plots (4.2%) when data from all locations were combined. The same trend was obvious when the data were separated by production system (organic or conventional), as there were approximately three times as many ECB infested fruits in the control plots as in the release plots at the three conventional locations. There were approximately 10 times as many ECB infested fruits in control plots as in release plots in the two organic sites.
Back to Display Presentations, Section Ca. Biological Control
Back to Posters
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition