BIOLOGICAL PROTECTION OF SOYBEAN CROPS AGAINST THE STINK BUG COMPLEX USING THE ENTOMOPHAGOUS TRICHOGRAMMA EVANESCENS WESTW
LIDIA GAVRILITA *, TUDOR NASTAS Institute Genetics, Physiology, and the Plant Protection of Republic of Moldova, ChiĆinÄu, e-mail: lidia_gavrilita@yahoo.com; tudor_nastas@mail.ru.
* Corresponding authorâs
Soybean crops are attacked by various pests, but the most economically important are the stink bug complex. In 2019, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, a significant flight of butterflies from the Nymphalidae family, specifically Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui L., 1758), was observed. During the first generation of soybean crop development, the number of V. cardui L. eggs ranged from 61 to 2287 eggs per 200 plants per hectare. The average density per plant ranged from 1.0 to 13.0 eggs. Out of the total number of V. cardui eggs (6105) collected in soybean culture, after two releases of Trichogramma evanescens, the number of parasitized eggs was 4400-72%. The norm for the entomophage pest control release was 100,000 eggs/ha in the first release (05.06.20) and 300,000 eggs/ha of individuals (07.06.20) in the second release. No entomophage was released in the control group. In the years 2020-2022, the Painted Lady butterfly was present in very low numbers, and the egg density was below the economic damage threshold.
