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The present study aimed to determine the selectivity of the pyrethroid lambdacyhalothrin on arthropod natural enemy populations in irrigated rice fields in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The study was conducted at three sites: districts of Cachoeira do Sul, Eldorado do Sul and Capivari do Sul during the crop years of 2007/2008 and 2008/ 2009. Each site consisted of two subareas divided into four plots. One of the subareas received a spray application of 150 ml/ha of lambdacyhalothrin CS 50, while the other subarea was untreated. Arthropods were collected at 2, 15, 30 and 45 days after the application of the insecticide to assess its impact on natural enemy populations. The results indicated consistent differences in natural enemy populations between the treated and untreated areas, especially within the first 2 weeks after the application of the insecticide. Principal components analysis together with χ2 analysis revealed differences in the populations of Tetragnathidae, Anyphaenidae, Araneidae, Coccinellidae, Phytoseiidae and Coenagrionidae between the treated and untreated areas. This study indicated the existence of a great diversity of arthropod natural enemies in irrigated rice fields in a subtropical environment similar to that reported previously from rice fields in tropical environments. In addition, lambdacyhalothrin was shown to be a rapid acting insecticide, with a significant initial decrease in natural enemy populations followed by a rapid recovery beginning at 2 weeks after the application of the insecticide. Especially disconcerting is the severe impact of the insecticide on Phytoseiidae and Araneidae, which are considered key natural enemies for the management of rice pests in southern Brazil.

This paper describes a survey of arthropods in rice-growing areas of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, undertaken to identify the main groups of insect pests and their natural enemies present in three producing regions during the stages of crop development. The study was conducted during the crop years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 in the municipalities of Cachoeira do Sul, Eldorado do Sul and Capivari do Sul. A total of 44,231 arthropods were collected: 26,821 in 2007/2008 and 17,410 in 2008/2009. Spatial and temporal patterns were analyzed utilizing the 28 principal families and applying the Morisita–Horn coefficient and the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). Both results demonstrated variances of abundance and richness from 1 year to the next in the evaluated areas. The results indicate that the arthropod communities in southern Brazilian rice crop agro-ecosystems are formed of a few families with high abundance and a large number of other smaller families. Among the phytophagous arthropods found, Pentatomidae, Orthoptera and planthoppers were predominant while the natural enemies were mainly predatory mites, spiders, Hymenoptera and Odonata. This study demonstrates that irrigated rice fields located in subtropical areas of the Brazilian South sustain a great variety of arthropods which facilitate studies on bio-diversity conservation and the development of sustainable management of the pests.

irrigateD rice agroecossystems: Pest insects, natural enemies anD integrateD Pest management. Pest insects are considered throughout the world as a major limitation to the production of irrigated rice crops. Many different control methods have been devised in attempts to reduce such losses. However, the continuous use of phytosanitary products induce resistance formation in the targeted insect pests, in addition to increasing the abundance of other secondary pests. Biological control through the use of natural enemies like predators, parasitoids and diseases surged as an alternative method for controlling insect pests in the field by reducing their population sizes and, consequently, the damage to their host plants. the present review presents the results of research on pest insects of rice cultures and revisits the importance of their natural enemies as biological control agents in an integrated Pest Management context.

The screening of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry proteins with high potential to control insect pests has been the goal of numerous research groups. In this study, we evaluated six monogenic Bt strains (Bt dendrolimus HD-37, Bt kurstaki HD-1, Bt kurstaki HD-73, Bt thuringiensis 4412, Bt kurstaki NRD-12 and Bt entomocidus 60.5, which codify the cry1Aa, cry1Ab, cry1Ac, cry1Ba, cry1C, cry2A genes respectively) as potential insecticides for the most important insect pests of irrigated rice: Spodoptera frugiperda, Diatraea saccharalis, Oryzophagus oryzae, Oebalus poecilus and Tibraca limbativentris. We also analyzed their compatibility with chemical insecticides (thiamethoxam, labdacyhalothrin, malathion and fipronil), which are extensively used in rice crops. The bioassay results showed that Bt thuringiensis 4412 and Bt entomocidus 60.5 were the most toxic for the lepidopterans, with a 93% and 82% mortality rate for S. frugiperda and D. saccharalis, respectively. For O. oryzae, the Bt kurstaki NRD-12 (64%) and Bt dendrolimus HD-37 (62%) strains were the most toxic. The Bt dendrolimus HD-37 strain also caused high mortality (82%) to O. poecilus, however the strains assessed to T. limbativentris caused a maximum rate of 5%. The assays for the Bt strains interaction with insecticides revealed the compatibility of the six strains with the four insecticides tested. The results from this study showed the high potential of cry1Aa and cry1Ba genes for genetic engineering of rice plants or the strains to biopesticide formulations.