THE EUROPEAN EARWIG IN ORCHARDS: WHEN DOES IT BECOME A PEST, AND WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS [ŠKVOR OBECNÝ V SADECH: KDY SE STÁVÁ ŠKŮDCEM A JAKÉ JSOU MOŽNOSTI ŘEŠENÍ PROBLÉMŮ]

Abstract

The European earwig, Forficula auricularia Linnaeus is an organism that can be considered a beneficial species. However, in some cases growers complain that the European earwig has caused considerable damage to their fruit, especially just before harvest. To better understand why and when the common European earwig becomes a significant pest, it is necessary to understand its development throughout the year and the possible factors that allow its population to growth to large abundances. In most cases, however, large populations alone may not result fruit damage. Cases in which the common European earwig appears as a pest are predominant especially in certain types of fruit, such as apricots and cherries. The literature and also the practical experience of growers suggest that fruit damage by the common European earwig may even be variety specific. This review focuses first on the ecology and phenological stages of the European earwig in orchards and its feeding behaviour. The next part then deals with the possibilities of reducing its population using biologically friendly methods and summarizes plant protection agrochemicals that have been tested in the past for their effect on the European earwig. Since the methods and procedures for regulating the high abundance of the common European earwig in our conditions have not yet been published, this work attempts to summarize the knowledge that could at least mitigate the fruit damage caused by this organism.

Keywords

• european earwig
• pest
• fruit damage
• options available