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Carabid patterns in olive orchards and woody semi-natural habitats: first implications for conservation biological control against Bactrocera oleae

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Abstract

The role of carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) for pest control service in perennial crop systems has been scarcely investigated. We addressed this knowledge gap exploring activity patterns and traits of adult carabids dwelling olive orchard agroecosystems as potential natural enemies of third instar larvae and pupae of Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae). Olive orchard supported a well-structured carabid assemblage, whose species phenologies revealed a temporal overlapping within the pest cycle. The assemblage of adjacent woody semi-natural habitats is more of conservation interest, but may play a weaker role in B. oleae control provisioning. We suggest the identification of carabids main traits for B. oleae conservation biological control as a cost-effective strategy for addressing future attention and resources only to those predators that satisfy basic requirements. This research may open new scenarios on management interventions to both conserve predators and encourage alternative approaches against olive orchards pest.

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Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to Prof. Pietro Brandmayr and Dr. Susanna Marchi for their valuable suggestions, to Dr. Diego Guidotti for statistical assistance and Dr. Gionata Bocci for botanical identification and statistical assistance. We thank Valentina Cantini, Antonio Coccina, Cristina Ghelardi, Gaia Monteforti, Malayka Picchi, Nathaly Castro Rodas for their field and laboratory assistances. We express particular acknowledgment and appreciation to landowners for allowing the access to their olive orchards and answering the questionnaires. We thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their comments to improve our manuscript. The research was inspired by the QuESSA project which received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 311879. This work has been realized with the financial support of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, PhD Programme in Agrobiodiversity.

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  1. Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale R. Piaggio 34, Pontedera, PI, 56025, Italy

    Alice Albertini & Ruggero Petacchi

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, Ponte Bucci 4b, Rende, CS, 87036, Italy

    Roberto Pizzolotto

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  1. Alice Albertini
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Correspondence to Alice Albertini.

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Albertini, A., Pizzolotto, R. & Petacchi, R. Carabid patterns in olive orchards and woody semi-natural habitats: first implications for conservation biological control against Bactrocera oleae . BioControl 62, 71–83 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-016-9780-x

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