Selectie en evaluatie van nieuwe natuurlijke vijanden voor preventieve bestrijding van bladluis in de glastuinbouw

This report presents the results of the four-year project ‘Stable ecosystems for control of emerging pests in greenhouses’ in de period 2020 to 2023. We aimed to improve the options for biological control of aphids with additional species. This has yielded two interesting new candidates, the red-flanked ladybird beetle Scymnus interruptus and the brown lacewing, Micromus variegatus. When used preventively, both species can suppress new outbreaks of aphids. The advantage of S. interruptus is their ability to survive a long period without aphids using only pollen and nectar from the pepper flowers. The lacewing M. variegatus turned out to be a good candidate in cucumber for locating new aphid hotspots. The control of potato aphid was in roses most successful with the parasitic wasps Praon volucre and Aphelinus abdominalis.