Use of thermal data as a screen for the establishment potential of non-native biological control agents in the UK

Ian Hatherly, AJ Hart, AG Tullett, Jeffrey Bale

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A series of recent studies have investigated the development, cold tolerance and winter field survival of glasshouse biological control agents that are non-native to the UK: Neoseiulus californicus, Macrolophus caliginosus, Delphastus catalinae, Eretmocerus eremicus and Typhlodromips montdorensis. The combined data sets for these species have been analysed to identify laboratory indices of cold tolerance that correlate with the duration of survival under winter field conditions. A strong correlation was found between the laboratory LTime(50) at 5 degrees C and maximum field survival time. Both N. californicus and M. caliginosus survived substantially longer in the laboratory and in the field than the other species. It is suggested that the LTime(50) at 5 degrees C may provide a reliable 'first stage' screen of establishment potential for candidate non-native biological control agents in the UK.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)687-698
Number of pages12
JournalBioControl
Volume50
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2005

Keywords

  • biocontrol
  • cold tolerance
  • non-native species
  • overwintering
  • diapause
  • establishment potential
  • environmental risk assessment

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