Liana Ganot

It has been demonstrated for a number of predators and parasitoids, that the addition of pollen and/or nectar as a supplementary diet improves the efficacy of pest control. Until now these studies have always been small trials and have involved manual application of pollen. We have developed a hand-held prototype electrostatic pollen applicator with a viscosity enhancer (EPAVE) that is composed of a feeder, blower, charging system and fine droplets generator for the application of pollen to greenhouse plants. The study system for this work consisted of the generalist predator Amblyseius swirskii and the pests Frankliniella occidentalis and Tetranychus urticae on sweet pepper. In potted plant trials we demonstrated that A. swirskii can establish and thrive on seedling pepper plants when the only source of food is corn pollen; the effect of corn pollen allowed predators to produce significantly more eggs, nymphs and adults than A. swirskii released in bran only. In the field trials there were clear trends between treatments; more predators and fewer pests were found in the pollen treatments. These trials clearly show that our patented EPAVE delivers pollen to greenhouse peppers in such a way that A. swirskii can establish and control pests. Future work will be directed to optimizing the quantity of pollen delivered and application timing.