Warmer temperatures trigger insecticide‐associated pest outbreaks

BACKGROUND Rising global temperatures are associated with emerging insect pests, reflecting earlier and longer insect activity, faster development, more generations per year and changing species' ranges. Insecticides are often the first tools available to manage these new threats. In the southe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pest management science 2024-03, Vol.80 (3), p.1008-1015
Main Authors: Crossley, Michael S, Smith, Olivia M, Barman, Apurba K, Croy, Jordan R, Schmidt, Jason M, Toews, Michael D, Snyder, William E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological control
climate change
Cotton
Crop production
Crops, Agricultural
Disruption
ecoinformatics
emerging pests
Global temperatures
Hemiptera
Insecta
Insecticides
Insects
Land use
land use intensity
Land use management
Outbreaks
Pest control
Pest outbreaks
Pesticides
Pests
Potatoes
regional pest management
Sprays
Temperature
Vegetables
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Summary:BACKGROUND Rising global temperatures are associated with emerging insect pests, reflecting earlier and longer insect activity, faster development, more generations per year and changing species' ranges. Insecticides are often the first tools available to manage these new threats. In the southeastern US, sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) has recently become the major threat to vegetable production. We used data from a multi‐year, regional whitefly monitoring network to search for climate, land use, and management correlates of whitefly activity. RESULTS Strikingly, whiteflies were detected earlier and grew more abundant in landscapes with greater insecticide use, but only when temperatures were also relatively warm. Whitefly outbreaks in hotter conditions were not associated with specific active ingredients used to suppress whiteflies, which would be consistent with a regional disruption of biocontrol following sprays for other pests. In addition, peak whitefly detections occurred earlier in areas with more vegetable production, but later with more cotton production, consistent with whiteflies moving among crops. CONCLUSION Altogether, our findings suggest possible links between warmer temperatures, more abundant pests, and frequent insecticide applications disrupting biological control, though this remains to be explicitly demonstrated. Climate‐initiated pesticide treadmills of this type may become an increasingly common driver of emerging pest outbreaks as global change accelerates. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) were detected earlier and reached greater numbers where insecticide use in the landscape was greatest, but only when temperatures were also relatively warm.
ISSN:1526-498X
1526-4998
DOI:10.1002/ps.7832