Zikadenschäden im Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzenanbau: Interaktive Lösungsansätze von Wissenschaft, Beratung und Bauern

Summary

Leafhopper stippling damages in cultures of medical herbs and spices are increasing since the mid 1990s in various parts of Central Europe. We launched a project within the frame of the Federal Programme for Organic Farming (BÖL) in order to gain information on the taxonomic status of the pest, as well as its basic biology and current distribution. In addition to this we tested whether cicads could be controlled by organic insecticides such as azadirachtin, pyrethrum and quassia, and by entomopathogenic fungi as biological control agents.
We found stippling damages of varying extent in nearly all fields under study. The pest has been identified as a complex of species belonging to cicadellids of the subfamily Typhlocybinae. These cicads have feeding mechanisms that differ from the widelyknown “hopper burn” on vegetables and grapevine caused by other cicads. Locally we found high cicad mortality in field populations caused by Entomophthorales and insect parasitoids. Our insecticide tests indicate that the investigated cicades can be partly controlled by Quassia and the entomopathogenic fungus Verticillium lecanii.