Compatibility of novel insecticides with conservation biological control in cotton

The Arizona cotton integrated pest management (IPM) plan is based on the conservation of natural enemies through threshold-based use of effective and selective insecticides to control two key pests, Bemisia argentifolii (=B. tabaci MEAM1) and Lygus hesperus. The use of selective insecticides has drastically reduced the number of sprays for the control of all pests in our system over the years. As new insecticidal traits and insecticides are released, the effects of these technologies on natural enemies and other non-target organisms must be assessed to verify their compatibility to the Arizona IPM plan. We measured the effects of a new important insecticide on biocontrol function and population dynamics of the cotton arthropod community (27 taxa measured), which includes the key generalist predator taxa: Collops spp., Orius tristicolor, Geocoris spp., Misumenops celer, Drapetis nr. divergens and Chrysoperla carnea s.l. Positive and negative controls were used to compare the effects of the novel insecticide on the arthropod community in replicated field studies. Species abundance and community diversity, as well as novel use of predator to prey ratios were analyzed to reveal potential effects of these insecticides on the arthropod community.