PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 24: Agro-Ecology
Wednesday, August 10, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Seasonal abundance of Lygus lineolaris in Quebec vineyard and its effect on yield.
Fleury, Dominique*,1, 2, Vincent, Charles1, Mauffette, Yves2, 1 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada2 Université du Québec À Montréal (ESI), Montréal, Québec, Canada
ABSTRACT- The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Heteroptera: Miridae), is a polyphagous insect able to feed on more than 130 commercial crops. Individuals can easily feed and move throughout the season from one crop species to another. We monitored in early spring if L. lineolaris adults colonize vineyard from surrounding agro-ecosystem. We trapped flying adults in a 14.2 ha commercial vineyard in southern Quebec, Canada (45 06 N, 72 51 W). The seasonal abundance of the tarnished plant bug was monitored with 35 sticky traps (30 cm wide and 140 cm high) equally spaced (30 m) at the periphery and 4 traps inside the vineyard. Captures were recorded weekly from May to October 2002 and 2003. We captured 16953 and 25935 adults in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Traps adjacent to the apple orchard, near the vineyard, had the highest collected individuals. Furthermore, we infested artificially grapevine plant with first instar nymphs and adults for 45 days at several insect densities (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 per cluster) and at different phenological stages of the grapevine (C, G and K). L. lineolaris at high densities did reduce berry production. This insect could threaten vineyard productivity if high population levels are reached.
Key words: Tarnished Plant Bug, Population Density, Vineyard, Cluster Yield