Warning of biotechnical combat against the pest of eggplant

Speaking about the fight against the eggplant lace bug, Samsun Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Sağlam emphasized the importance of cultural, mechanical, and biotechnical methods. He stated, "Cultural, mechanical, and biotechnical methods are important in combating the eggplant lace bug. Soil cultivation should be carried out in orchards to reduce the population of the pest's eggs, larvae, and adults."

Warning against the pest, which causes damage to vegetables such as beans and peas as well as fruits such as almonds, chokeberries, plums, cherries, and apples, İbrahim Sağlam, the Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, stated, "The eggplant lace bug, which feeds on hosts belonging to many families, is widely spread worldwide. Adults are approximately 10 millimeters long, black matte-colored, and covered with long yellow hairs on their bodies. The white spots on their wings are quite striking. The pests spend winter in the soil as adults and larvae and feed on early flowering weeds, beans, peas, as well as almond, chokeberry, plum, cherry, and apple blossoms. Depending on the variety of cultivated plants, they can be active until the end of July. In the spring, they feed on the flowers, young leaves, buds, pollen, and fruits, along with the male and female organs of the flowers. The eggs of the pests, which give birth once a year, are white and spherical with a diameter of 2-2.5 mm. They lay these eggs in humus-rich soils. The larvae that hatch from the eggs feed on the roots of weeds for one or two weeks. Larvae spend the pupal period in the voids they create in the soil for 6-9 weeks and cause damage to the flowers the following year in spring. Adult flights continue until the end of July."

Drawing attention to the fact that chemical control against the eggplant lace bug may harm the populations of bees and other beneficial insects that ensure pollination, Provincial Director İbrahim Sağlam stated, "Cultural, mechanical, and biotechnical methods are important in combating this pest. Soil cultivation should be carried out in orchards to reduce the population of the pest's eggs, larvae, and adults. Since it is known that the pest is less active in the early hours of the morning, collecting and destroying adults shaken from trees by laying cloths under the trees is an important method in mechanical combat. One of the most effective methods in combating the eggplant lace bug is biotechnical methods. Since it is known that adults prefer the color blue, we recommend using blue-colored attractive traps. Blue-colored containers or basins are placed under the trees and filled with water halfway. Adult insects fall into the containers upon seeing the blue color. Insects that fall into the basins are usually consumed by birds, but if there is accumulation in the basins, they should be collected and destroyed."