-The leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard is considered a key pest for potatoes in Argentina. Population dynamics and leaf damage caused by the leafminer on seven selected potato processing varieties were assessed at Balcarce during the 2002 and 2003 growing seasons. Adult population dynamic was monitored using yellow sticky traps, while leaf damage (punctures and mines) was assessed using a damage index scale from low to severe. Liriomyza huidobrensis adults were present throughout the growing season and the population increased along crop development. The same was true for all varieties regarding larval damage, being low on early crop stages and severe late in the season. Varieties were grouped in two different categories according to damage scale index. Shepody, Kennebec, Frital and Innovator showed a higher damage index when compared with Santana, ranger russet and russet Burbank, which exhibited a lower damage. Moreover, it could be assumed that damage was related to the foliage greenness, with light green colored varieties (Shepody, Kennebec, Frital and Innovator) being more attractive and affected by L. huidobrensis.
Cereal aphids cause economic injury to wheat crops. In Argentina, Eriopis connexa is an indigenous ladybird. In the present study, the numerical response of E. connexa to changes in aphid density on wheat crops with high and low plant diversity was investigated. The study was carried out in Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina, from September to December 2007 and 2008, on two wheat crops with either a higher plant diversity (HPD) with refuge strips or a lower plant diversity (LPD) without refuge strips. Crops were sampled every week and the abundance of aphids and E. connexa was recorded. The dominant aphid species were Schizaphis graminum, Metopolophium dirhodum, and Sitobion avenae. Eriopis connexa showed a linear increase in the numerical response to an increase in aphid density, which varied in space and time. The abundance of E. connexa increased in relation to the crop development and aphid population and was higher in the HPD than in the LPD system. This predator increased its reproductive numerical response only in 2008, with a significant liner response in the HPD system. This suggests that the potential of E. connexa as a predator of cereal aphids also increases directly in proportion to landscape vegetal diversity.
This chapter covers integrated pest, disease and weed management (biological, cultural and chemical methods) in cotton (against Anthonomus grandis and Alabama argillacea), potato (against viruses, Phytophthora infestans, Rhizoctonia solani, plant parasitic nematodes, insect pests and weeds), and apple and pear (insects and diseases) in Argentina.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.