Speaker
Description
Honeydew is the excretion product of many plant-feeding hemipterans and some lepidopterans. This sweet excretion product is the most abundant and accessible source of carbohydrates for parasitoids and predators in many agroecosystems [1,2]. Being so abundant, honeydew mediates many direct and indirect interactions that affect biological control. Here, we describe these interactions and identify honeydew-management strategies to reduce pest pressure. First, as with flowering plants, the presence of non-damaging honeydew producers in cover crops and hedges increases the abundance and fitness of parasitoids and predators [3]. Second, breaking the mutualism between ants and honeydew-producing pests with alternative sugar sources promotes biological control of these pests [4-6]. Third, we propose to explore honeydew volatiles to attract biological control agents and repel pests, as well as to induce plant defences [7-9]. Finally, we urge reducing the use of systemic pesticides that contaminate honeydew and negatively affect biological control agents that feed on it [10]. Overall, we propose that honeydew management is incorporated in integrated pest management programs to contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture [11].
