Browsing by Author "Garcia, Vasco, ed."
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Ecology of Aphidophaga : Biology, Ecology and Behaviour of Aphidophagous Insects : Proceedings of the 8th International SymposiumPublication . Soares, António O., ed.; Ventura, Maria A., ed.; Garcia, Vasco, ed.; Hemptinne, Jean-Louis, ed.Aphids and their natural enemies were central stage from 1st to 6th of September, 2002, at the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada. Aphids were recorded as major pests early in the XXth Century (GAUMONT 1977) and continue to threaten field and greenhouse crops. As a consequence, pesticides are used regularly and intensively, which hampers the move towards sustainable agriculture. In theory, biological control of aphids is an alternative to chemical control but the record of biological control is not good (DIXON 2000). This does not mean that biological control should be abandoned. On the contrary, we should attempt to improve it, and this is the main objective of the IOBC Working Group “Ecology of aphidophaga”. Traditionally the majority of the communications presented at the meetings of this Working Group are on ladybird beetles. This was also the case at this meeting but the prominence of ladybirds was not a deliberate attempt to restrict the scientific scope of the meeting. History partly explains the domination of ladybirds. The outstanding success of Rodolia cardinalis in California many years ago still influences these conferences. This is not the only explanation. Ladybirds are a good model organism for improving our understanding of the role of natural enemies in regulating herbivore populations. Parasitoids have, and continue to be used as models for studying predator prey dynamics. However, the biology of parasitoids differs fundamentally from that of predators (DIXON 2000) and it is therefore unlikely that studies on parasitoids will shed light on all the theoretical and practical aspects of the interactions between prey and natural enemies. Studies on ladybirds complement those on parasitoids and give a better understanding of why the biological control of aphids sometimes fails. This was central to the interesting communications on predator-prey models, guild structure, fundamental biology and applications presented at the meeting.