Selectivity of Amblyseius largoensis (Muma) to phytosanitary products used in the protected production of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

The compatibility of Amblyseius largoensis (Muma) with chemical and biological products used in the protected pepper production was determined in an experiment conducted under controlled conditions. Two to five-day- old gravid females were removed from an arena of A. largoensis on Panonychus citri (McGregor) in the laboratory and placed on a section of a grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf var. Marsh) leaf with the same prey in a Petri dish of 14 cm of diameter. The females were sprayed with the maximum doses used in protected cultivation systems of the miticides dicofol, sulphur, and the Lbt-13 strain of Bacillus thurigiensis (Berliner); the insecticides diafentiuron, imidacloprid and cypermethrin+diazinon, and the fungicides mancozeb and metalaxyl+mancozeb. Three replicates were prepared with 20 females each one for a total of 60. The products were prepared with distilled water and Tween 80 at 0.001% as a humectant agent only. A control of only distilled water and Tween 80 was included. The number of females of A. largoensis dead at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the application was determined. The mortality results were classified according to the scale proposed by the International Organization for Biological Control. The results showed that A. largoensis was compatible with the miticides dicofol, sulphur and the Lbt-13 strain of B. thuringiensis, the insecticide imidacloprid, and the fungicides mancozeb and metalaxyl+mancozeb. However, the insecticides diafentiuron and cypermethrin+diazinon were toxic to the predator.