Side Effects of Sulfur Dust on the European Grapevine Moth Lobesia botrana and the Predatory Mite Kampimodromus aberrans in Vineyards

Abstract

To reduce the impact of synthetic insecticides on human health and the environment, eco-friendly alternatives must be investigated. Knowledge of the side effects on pests and natural enemies of natural products applied to vineyards is very useful. Sulfur dust, which is used in vineyards to control powdery mildew, is investigated in laboratory and field bioassays for its effects on Lobesia botrana egg laying, egg hatching, and larval settlement. In field trials, the efficacy of sulfur dust against the two L. botrana carpophagous generations is compared with that of Bacillus thuringiensis and kaolin, and its side effects on the phytoseiid mite Kampimodromus aberrans are evaluated. In the bioassays, sulfur dust reduced female survival by 43%, egg laying by around 80%, egg hatching by 10%, and larval settlement by 55%. In field trials, sulfur dust caused a significant decrease in the number of L. botrana larval nests of both generations, even though the efficacy was lower than that of B. thuringiensis. No negative effects of sulfur dust on the predatory mite population density was observed. On the basis of these results, in the context of Integrated Pest Management strategies in vineyards, the activity of sulfur dust against L. botrana could be exploited by timing its application to the beginning of egg laying.

The potency of minerals to reduce oriental fruit fly infestation in chili fruits

“…Other minerals used in this study were considered to be relatively safe for humans and the environment. They also have insect control properties, as previously reported for bentonite ( El-Aziz, 2013 ), calcium carbonate ( Morsi, 2021 ), calcium hydroxide ( Estrada-Aguilar et al, 2012 ), calcium oxide ( Smitha & Mathew, 2010 ), dolomite ( Freitas et al, 2020 ), sulfur ( Tacoli et al, 2020 ), talc ( Driggers, 1929 ), zeolite ( Floros et al, 2018 ) and zinc oxide ( Gutiérrez-Ramírez et al, 2021 ). We hypothesized that, in addition to kaolin, there would be other minerals effective against oriental fruit fly attacks.…”

Spray-Induced Gene Silencing Identifies Pathogen Processes Contributing to Powdery Mildew Proliferation

“…The plant hormone ABA plays a critical role in diverse plant processes including seed development, dormancy, and germination; regulation of growth and development; stomatal closure; and response to abiotic and biotic stressors (Jia et al, 2022). Fungal production of ABA appears to be limited to plant-associated fungi, acting as a virulence factor to mediate ABAdependent plant responses (Takino et al, 2019). Fungi and plants employ distinct ABA biosynthetic routes (Jia et al, 2021;Takino et al, 2019).…”

“…Fungal production of ABA appears to be limited to plant-associated fungi, acting as a virulence factor to mediate ABAdependent plant responses (Takino et al, 2019). Fungi and plants employ distinct ABA biosynthetic routes (Jia et al, 2021;Takino et al, 2019). However, the annotated Gor genome contains two plant ABA biosynthetic enzymes, NCED and ABA2, and reciprocal protein BLAST analysis found the Gor proteins to be the best protein BLAST hits of the Arabidopsis plant proteins and vice versa (Procedures).…”

“…Powdery mildews are widespread obligate biotrophic pathogens that infect a variety of agriculturally important crops (Glawe, 2008). Fungicides are required to control infection, though there are increasing needs for other disease management tools due to increasing prevalence of powdery mildew (PM) resistance to fungicides (Frenkel et al, 2015; Kunova et al, 2021; Miles et al, 2021; Vielba-Fernández et al, 2020) and increasing human health and environmental concerns associated with fungicide and repeated sulfur application (Bastos et al, 2021; Calvert et al, 2008; Hinckley & Matson 2011; Raanan et al, 2017; Tacoli et al, 2020; Zubrod et al, 2014). For example, Erysiphe necator , which causes grape PM, is the dominant disease impacting grapes in California and world-wide (Gadoury et al, 2012).…”

Special Issue: Natural Substances against Insect Pests: Assets and Liabilities

“…This goal becomes particularly useful when related to mosquito larvae control in watery breeding sites [ 9 ]. The use of dusts, such as granite rock [ 10 ] and sulphur dust [ 11 ], against herbivorous pests could be exploited on some horticultural and ornamental crops and in vineyards within the integrated pest management context.…”