A SIMULATION STUDY WITH A DUTCH AND A CANADIAN STRAIN OF THE PARASITOID APHELINUS MALI (HALD.) FOR CONTROL OF WOOLLY APPLE APHID ERIOSOMA LANIGERUM (HAUSMANN) IN THE NETHERLANDS

Woolly apple aphid (Eriosoma lanigerum Hausmann) is one of the major apple pests in the Netherlands.
Weather conditions and natural enemies determine whether woolly apple aphid (WAA) will reach pest status.
In some years WAA escapes control by natural enemies, and has to be controlled chemically.
To prevent unnecessary spraying and to promote biological and natural control of WAA more knowledge has to be obtained about the role of natural enemies, weather and their interactions on the development of WAA. The monophagous parasitoid Aphelinus mali (Hald.) has been introduced in most of apple growing areas to control WAA with more or less success.
In springtime, the parasitization level by Aphelinus mali is often too low to be effective in time for the farmer, but during summertime the parasitization level may be high (Mueller et al., 1992).

The purpose of this research is to see whether strains of A. mali may exist that are better adapted to the ‘Dutch’ climate, which is characterised by a cool spring.
The effectiveness of different strains of the parasitoid A. mali under Dutch climatological conditions is compared using a simulation model of the population interaction between woolly apple aphid and A. mali.

V International Symposium on Computer Modelling in Fruit Research and Orchard Management

P.J.M. Mols, J.M. Boers

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.499.30