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This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of the Varronia curassavica Jacq. essential oil to two cosmopolitan and polyphagous pest species, the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) and the green aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer). Additionally, we tested the essential oil toxicity to a generalist predatory insect, the green lacewing Ceraeochrysa cubana Hagen. The treatments consisted of four essential oil concentrations (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0%) and one control (Tween® 80 + water). At 0.75% concentration, the V. curassavica essential oil caused the highest mortalities for both pests. The concentration of 1.0% of the essential oil interfered mainly in the rates of oviposition and egg hatching and caused a decrease in the instantaneous population growth rate (ri) of T. urticae. Survival of the C. cubana was not affected by the highest tested concentration of the essential oil (1%). Tested concentrations V. curassavica essential oil were toxic to T. urticae and M. persicae, but not to the predator C. cubana.

We report here for the first time, the predation of coffee berry borer (CBB) Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) by a green lacewing species, Chrysoperla externa (Hagen). We showed in laboratory the predator ability to access CBB galleries, remove pest immature stages, and prey on them. We also observed predation by third instar larvae on CBB adults. With this note, we add a new predator to the reported list of species still little explored of CBB control.

The pepper-fruit-borer Symmetrischema dulce Povolny (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is an important chili pepper pest causing significant yield losses. However, chili pepper has insufficient crop protection support and primary information about S. dulce is scarce. In the present study, we aimed to study the biology and ecology of S. dulce in pepper plants (Capsicum frutescens L.) focusing to support integrated pest management programs. In the field, we sampled ripe and unripe chili pepper fruits in three different plant strata. In the laboratory, we established colonies of the S. dulce and we recorded the duration, viability, morphology of each life stage, and number of larval instars. We conducted experiments to evaluate insect reproduction, whereby we registered the pre-oviposition and oviposition period, daily oviposition rate, and sex ratio. From these results, we estimated the reproductive success of S. dulce through the intrinsic population growth rate. The higher occurrence of S. dulce was in unripe fruits with no difference between plant strata. Egg stage lasted 4 days with 94% viability, and larval phase lasted on average 10.72 days and presented four instars with viability of 66.6%. Pupal stage lasted 9.61 days with viability of 94.73%. The adult stage lasted 24.14 days with a pre-oviposition period of 3 days and oviposition period of 13.85 days. The intrinsic growth rate (rm) recorded was 0.0035. Our results suggest that the biology of S. dulce has similarities with other Lepidoptera, but its peculiarities in reproductive parameters are essential for future programs of pest management.

Coffee leaf miner (CLM), Leucoptera coffeella, is a key pest of unshaded coffee in hot, dry neotropical production areas. Control is hampered by CLM mining behavior that reduces biological control and pesticide efficacy. Therefore, finding natural enemies that can efficiently control CLM could improve conservation and augmentative biological control practices, and potentially reduce reliance on increasingly ineffective insecticide applications. The green lacewing Ceraeochrysa cubana is a generalist predator often found in coffee crops in Brazil, but there is little information regarding its potential contribution to CLM control. We investigated whether C. cubana preys on immature stages of CLM and whether predation levels vary according to life stage of C. cubana or CLM. First, second and third instar C. cubana readily consumed CLM eggs, but once inside mines, few CLM larvae were consumed. Second and third instar C. cubana successfully preyed on CLM pupae, but first instars did not. Thus, all three instars of C. cubana were able to prey on at least one immature stage of CLM, with potential to impede mine formation and adult emergence.

Aromatic plants can affect arthropod community composition and reduce herbivore populations by attracting beneficial insects such as generalist predators. To investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the attraction of aromatic plant species to natural enemies in the field, we assessed the attractiveness of Ocimum basilicum L. (basil), Mentha piperita L. (peppermint), Melissa officinalis L. (lemon balm) (Lamiaceae) and Cordia verbenacea DC (black sage) (Boraginaceae) to adults of the green lacewing Ceraeochrysa cubana Hagen (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), a generalist predator widely distributed across the Americas. Additionally, we tested whether access to leaves and flowers of these plant species would affect larval survival, development or oviposition by C. cubana . The green lacewing was attracted to basil but not to the other aromatic plants. Larvae and adults did not benefit from the presence of any plant leaves, but basil flowers enhanced C. cubana larval and adult survival. Basil can be recommended as a companion crop in conservation biological control programs, not only for its well-known negative effects on pests, but also for its attractiveness to generalist predatory insects such as C. cubana . Besides attracting adults, basil flowers benefit both larvae and adults, which is desirable for conservation biological control.

Intercropping tomato plants with coriander is known to attract natural enemies of aphids, mostly coccinellids, but the cues involved in such attraction are not yet known. We investigated why coriander plants attract Cycloneda sanguinea, a generalist aphid predator. We performed a series of controlled experiments with coriander plants in vegetative and reproductive stages to examine the cues attracting C. sanguinea adults and larvae. In a Y-tube olfactometer, C. sanguinea adults were attracted by coriander volatiles produced during the vegetative plant stage suggesting an innate attraction to coriander. Attraction increased when aphid-infested tomato plants were offered together with coriander plants. Moreover, C. sanguinea females used coriander plants as oviposition sites, regardless of plant stage, which could partially explain the attraction to coriander volatiles during vegetative stage. Larvae hatching on coriander plants without prey were able to find nearby aphid-infested tomato plants within about three days after hatching. Additionally, a diet of coriander flowers increased female survivorship, but oviposition only occurred when females had aphids in their diet. Our results indicate that C. sanguinea adults orient to coriander nearing bloom and then use coriander pollen and/or nectar as a supplementary food before aphids become available. The implications of these findings for conservation biological control are discussed.