Can Flowering Greencover Crops Promote Biological Control in German Vineyards?

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 8; no. 4; p. 121
• Main Authors: Hoffmann, Christoph, Köckerling, Janine, Biancu, Sandra, Gramm, Thomas, Michl, Gertraud, Entling, Martin H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.11.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Biological control; Crops; egg-predator; Eggs; European grapevine moth; Flowering; Grapevines; habitat management; Itoplectis alternans; Lobesia botrana; Parasitism; Parasitoids; Pest control; Pests; Predation; Predators; predatory mite; Trichogramma; Typhlodromus pyri; Vineyards; European grapevine moth; Trichogramma; predatory mite; Itoplectis alternans; habitat management; Lobesia botrana; Typhlodromus pyri; egg-predator
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects8040121

Greencover crops are widely recommended to provide predators and parasitoids with floral resources for improved pest control. We studied parasitism and predation of European grapevine moth ( ) eggs and pupae as well as predatory mite abundances in an experimental vineyard with either one or two sowings of greencover crops compared to spontaneous vegetation. The co-occurrence between greencover flowering time and parasitoid activity differed greatly between the two study years. Parasitism was much higher when flowering and parasitoid activity coincided. While egg predation was enhanced by greencover crops, there were no significant benefits of greencover crops on parasitism of eggs or pupae. Predatory mites did not show an as strong increase on grapevines in greencover crop plots as egg predation. Overall, our study demonstrates only limited pest control benefits of greencover crops. Given the strong within- and between year variation in natural enemy activity, studies across multiple years will be necessary to adequately describe the role of greencover crops for pest management and to identify the main predators of eggs.