Predatory Mite for Spider Mite Control Now Available in Slow-Release Sachet
BioBee recently announced that its predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis (BioPersi+), a spider mite predator, can be applied preventively using slow-release sachets that will offer consistent results.
P. persimilis has been used successfully in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs since the 1960s. Being prey specific, the traditional tritrophic rearing method (plant/pest/beneficial), although successful, has not supported the use of slow-release sachets. That changed at the beginning of this year with the announcement of a new mass rearing method for P. persimilis.
“BioBee’s patented rearing technology is based on the successful development and reproduction of P. persimilis on alternative prey feed, which is far different from its traditional well-known spider mite-based feed. This technology has yielded the BioPersi+ (an improved version of P. persimilis) and enabled its novel application method: Slow-release sachets,” says Dr. Shimon Steinberg, BioBee’s Chief Scientific Officer.
The new product, BioPersi+, which arrives satiated and physiologically stronger, is able to seek and control hot spots faster and start laying eggs on the same day of application in the crop.
BioPersi+ contains all the developmental stages of the mite (adult, juveniles, and eggs). This population diversity creates a continuity of active mite predation, assuring longer, uninterrupted spider mite control. In the case of the BioPersi+ sachets, it also means that P. persimilis continues to reproduce inside the sachet, while dispersion on the crop continues.
“The ability to avail P. persimilis with alternative feed within the sachet makes the slow-release and preventive application of P. persimilis possible for the first time in commercial biological control,” says Tom Katz, R&D entomologist at BioBee who heads the BioPersi+ slow-release sachet development. “BioPersi+ Speed Sachet with a slow release of more than 150 mites/sachet for up to five days is recommended for hotspot treatments.
The BioPersi+ Classic Sachet has a slow release of more than 500 mites/sachet for up to 12 days and is recommended for preventive use, says Arnon Tabic, R&D entomologist and co-head of the project, at BioBee.
Immediate-release sachets of P. persimilis have been around for some time now, but because the P. persimilis is starved, the sachets must be perforated individually by the user when applied. BioPersi+ sachets (classic and speed) contain alternative feed; thus, the sachets are pre-perforated, ready to use, making the application faster, easier, and more convenient to growers.
“BioPersi+ sachets can be used in crops such as sweet pepper, cucumber, tomato, eggplant, cannabis, strawberry, raspberry, melon, watermelon, roses, cut flowers, and other ornamentals,” says Moshe Cohen, Senior Field Service Manager at BioBee. “It is an especially useful tool for medical cannabis growers who must avoid physical contact between the product carrier/formulation and any part of the plant.”
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