Currently, olive grove management in Spain responds to the three following clearly differentiated systems in order of decreasing area: Conventional Management (70%), Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (26%) and Ecological Management (4%) systems. These are characterized by a decreasing dependence on synthetic insecticides and by different soil tillage intensities. They are also subject to different subside regulations and application regimen by the government, so their adequate characterization represents a factor of increasing importance, which is the object of this work.During the years 2017 and 2018, olive groves corresponding to the three types of management were selected, in which two series of plots were established. In one series, Dimethoate 40® was applied, considering plots of the second series as control. After insecticide application, beneficial insects were monitored through the use of chromatic traps.The results allow elucidating two clearly different behavioral patterns in beneficial insects, depending on the use of insecticides: Conventional and IPM management, where repellency reaction is manifested, absent in the Ecological Management. Aspects about the induction of sublethal effects for the characterization of the different pest management systems are discussed.

Abstract. Most of the investigations carried out on the resistance of insects to pesticides have been focused on the physiological and biochemical mechanisms. However, the behavioural answers that pesticide induces in the insects have received very little attention. The symptoms from getting pesticides on the cuticular surface of insects, as neurotoxical pre mortem effects, include spasmodic activity, hyperactivity and leak of the surfaces impregnated by the pesticides. These reactions provides a first barrier of defense, named behavioural resistance. Previous experiments carried out on olive groves usually subjected to pesticide application have allowed to visualize a reaction of leak of the natural enemies from treated areas, which is reflected as an increase of its rate of capture in sticky chromatic traps, in relation to the free of pesticides areas, on olive groves, usually subjected to pesticide application. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the reaction of these insects' species under different agricultural pest management: i-A conventional olive grove, where pesticides are usually applied; and iiAn organic olive grove, where pest management depends exclusively on the role of the natural enemies. During the spring of 2016, experimental applications have been carried out in two olive groves of the province of Jaén (south of Spain) by means of a commercial pesticide application, in order to evaluate the reactions induced in the main species of olive predators. Six pairs of plots were randomly selected in both conventional and organic olive groves, three of these were pesticide sprayed, whereas a second series of three plots were free of pesticide application. Sticky yellow traps were installed in both treated and control plots just after application of pesticide. The results allow to determine the existence of two different reactions of the predators in both types of olive groves. In the plots of the conventional management, a significant increase of the capture values was observed. However, in the ecological groves, the same insects' species showed a lack of behavioural resistance. The ecological implications of this study open a new field of research, which provides new criteria to assess the qualification of the organic agriculture.

Intensive soil tillage and the resulting erosion constitutes one of the main problems in olive growing. Palliative practices such as implementing vegetable covers are encouraged. Recently, the method of adding inert green roofs to the soil, either alone or in combination with adventitious vegetation, has stood out. Assessing this agronomic measure is our main objective. This research was conducted in 2022 in the Jaén province (southern Spain), wherein olive groves with different managements were selected: (i) conventional, free from vegetation, (ii) ecologically managed olive grove containing a cover of adventitious vegetation (VC), and (iii) ecologically managed olive grove in which the remains of pruning are added to the adventitious cover (VC-MIX). Vegetation inventories and beneficial insect monitoring were performed using a combined device with chromatic and olfactory trapping. The olive moth (Prays oleae) and lacewing predators were selected as the indicator species. Both the beneficial insect diversity and relative plant abundance were higher in the VC-MIX, where the highest rates of predation by lacewings were found (88%). In turn, these parameters in the VC olive surpassed those of the conventional olive grove. The factors involved in the notable differences between the three management types are discussed.

Pyrethrins are the most widely used insecticide class in olive groves with organic management. Although there are data sets about insect pests of stored products and human parasites developing resistance to pyrethrins, there is no information on the long-term effect on olive agroecosystems. A field method based on the experimental induction of sublethal effects by means of insecticide application, and the monitoring of the response of insects through post-treatment sampling, has recently been developed. This method has allowed for the detection of populations behaviorally resistant to organophosphates in integrated pest management (IPM) and conventional crops. With the application of a similar methodology, this study aimed to verify the possible reaction of natural enemies in organic crops, using pyrethrins as an inducing insecticide. The study was carried out in 2019 in two olive groves in southern Spain (Jaén, Andalusia), one of them being IPM and the other being an organic production system. The results did not allow for verification of the behavioral resistance in populations of natural enemies of both IPM and organic management against pyrethrins, while against dimethoate, behavioral resistance was verified in IPM management. The possible causes involved in obtaining these results are discussed.