Counting Predators and Using Biological Control Informed Thresholds for Sustainable Management of Whiteflies in Cotton

Conservation biological control is central to arthropod IPM in Arizona cotton, responsible for 42% of the economic savings made over the last 24 years. A total of six arthropod predators and eight predator-to-prey ratios were developed in support of the integration of chemical and biological control for whitefly management. These biological control informed thresholds create two new zones of understanding in peri-threshold decision making: 1) Deferring sprays when whiteflies are otherwise over the standard pest-centric threshold and there are ample predators to support biological control; and 2) Advancing sprays prior to reaching the standard pest-centric threshold for whiteflies when predator densities are inadequate to prevent rapid population increase. This refinement creates greater certainty in predicting population outcomes and making properly timed use of whitefly insecticides. This paper focuses on the implementation of these new predator-based thresholds and the teaching and outreach conducted to support their commercial use in Arizona and northern Mexico.