Pesticides and Predators: What are the risks of reduced risk pesticides on an important predator, the convergent ladybird beetle?

A new class of pesticides, known as reduced risk pesticides, has been increasingly used in agroecological systems. While reduced risk pesticides have demonstrated reduced health risks to humans, their effects on natural enemy/predator populations is unclear. In fact, with the increased use of reduced risk pesticide, there have been increased secondary pest outbreaks. This may be due to the fact that these new pesticides affect natural enemy populations, which normally control such outbreaks. This talk will examine the effects of reduced risk pesticides, specifically on the convergent ladybird beetle (Hippodamia convergens), which is an important biological control agent in orchard agroecosystems of Western North America, where these recent pest outbreaks have occurred.

Speaker: Lisa Fernandez, PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM)