AN INTEGRATED PEST-MANAGEMENT APPROACH, EMPHASIZING BIOLOGICAL-CONTROL, FOR PECAN APHIDS

An Integrated Pest Management program to control the yellow pecan aphi d Moneliopsis pecanis (Bissel), the black-margined pecan aphid Monelli a caryella (Fitch), and the black pecan aphid Melanocallis caryaefolia (Davis) was adopted by Stahmann Farms of ]Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1987. This program relied on improved cultural management practices, c ompound leaf counts of pest and predator densities, inoculative releas es of the lacewing Chrysoperla rufilabris (Burmeister), two species of lady beetles Hippodamia convergens (Guerin-Meneville), and Harmonia a xyridis (Pallas), and reduced pesticide inputs. The population dynamic s of aphids and predators are presented for years 1987 through 1993. R elease and insecticide application rates declined during this seven-ye ar interval, as did the financial expense associated with each. Yield and quality, however, remained high.