Field Guide of Discovery-based Exercises for - Aseanipm ...

Section 4 • Integrated Insect and Rodent Pests Management
Exercise No. 4.13 153
FARM-LEVEL PRODUCTION AND USE OF EARWIG
AS PREDATOR OF INSECT PESTS IN ORGANICALLY-
GROWN VEGETABLES
BaCKGroUND aND raTIoNalE
Predators are organisms that feed on pests. Generally, they
are bigger than their prey (pest), which they actively seek and
capture. Some examples of predators are earwigs, flower
bugs (Orius), and ladybird (coccinellid) beetles.
Earwigs, belonging to Order Dermaptera, are general
predators of eggs, larvae, and pupae of Lepidopterans,
Coleopterans, and Dipterans as well as leafhoppers,
planthoppers, aphids, and many soft-bodied insects. They
are nocturnal (more active at night) and prefer slightly moist
conditions as their habitat. They are easily recognized by their elongated, flattened body and mobile
abdomen, which extend into a pair of forceps. The earwig species, Euborellia annulata (Fabricius),
is shiny-black in color and generally wingless, has a 7-segmented antennae with its 3 rd and 4 th from
apex pale, and prefers to stay in soil during daytime but crawls on plants at nighttime.
As a biological control agent against insect pests, the biology of Euborellia is already well studied.
It develops from an egg to an adult in about 35 days, lays 6 egg batches with 40 eggs per batch or
a total of 240 eggs. Its egg hatches in 6-8 days and undergoes five nymphal instars. The survival
rate from eggs to adults is about 90 % and an adult lives for approximately 74 days. The predator
can establish well with a 1:6 male-female ratio under laboratory conditions. During field dispersal,
Euborellia can travel within a radius of about 6 meters from release point.
These practical and worthwhile innovations can be shared and enriched by farmers and facilitators
in FFSs to improve pest management practices through participatory, discovery-based, and
experiential learning approaches, hence this exercise. While use of Euborellia as a general predator
of eggs, larvae, and pupae of numerous insect pests as well as leafhoppers, planthoppers, aphids,
and many soft-bodied insects is an essential topic in any regular season-long FFS session, farmlevel
Euborellia mass-production is more applicable and sustainable when introduced as a follow-up
activity of regular FFS farmer-graduates.
153 Javier, P.A. 2005. Farm-level utilization of predators: Earwigs and Orius. Power point presentation during a Workshop on Integrated Production and Pest
Management in Processing Tomato: Issues and Prospects held on July 2005 at Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. 17 slides.
227
when is this exercise most
appropriate?
ɶ In FFS, TOT, and VST
sessions, as follow-up or
integral part of topic on
‘Biological Control of
Insect Pests’; and
ɶ When farmers want to
learn some innovative
ways of farm-level
mass-production and
use of Euborellia as
a general predator of
numerous insect pests
of organically-grown
vegetables.