6.3 Seed bugs

The strawberry seed bug (Figure 15), Neopamera bilobata (Say), has recently become a pest of annual strawberry production systems in Florida. Adults are similar in appearance to tarnished plant bugs but are smaller and more enlongated in shape. Immatures closely resemble ants, especially at a distance. Ants have elbowed antenna and a narrow "waist" (narrow constriction between thorax and abdomen) while seed bug nymphs have straight antennae and the abdomen more broadly connected to the thorax. Adults and nymphs feed on developing fruit, which is suspected to cause injury to the fruit that can make it unmarketable. Research into economic impacts, thresholds, and treatment options is in the early stages.

## 6.4 Sap beetles

The strawberry sap beetle, Stelidota geminate (Say), is one of many sap beetles, family Nitidulidae, that are found in strawberry plantings. Along with the strawberry sap beetle, the dusky sap beetle, Carpophilus lugubris Murray, and the fourspotted sap beetle, Glischrochilus quadrisignatus (Say), are the most common

Figure 15. The strawberry seedbug (photo credit: O. Dosunmu).

Management of Strawberry Insect and Mite Pests in Greenhouse and Field Crops DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82069

species found in North Carolina [26]. In contrast, C. fumatus Boheman, Lobiopa insularis (Castelnau), and Epuraea luteola Erichson are the most common species found in Florida strawberries [27]. In general, sap beetles are small, 1/8″–1/4″ in length, and orange to dark brown in color. Several abdominal segments protrude beyond the elytra and they have clubbed antennae.

Adults fly into strawberry fields from wooded areas or other protected sites after overwintering [26]. In Florida, they do not overwinter and can come into fields at anytime but are more common in February through the end of harvest in March or April [27]. Females lay their eggs on or near overripe and rotting fruit. The larvae feed on and develop inside the fruit and then pupate in the soil nearby. The adults feed on ripe fruit, chewing small holes in the fruit that can make fruit unmarketable and introduce disease organisms.

The best way to manage sap beetles is to practice good field sanitation [26, 27]. Frequent harvests that include the removal and disposal of overripe and other unmarketable fruits usually prevent sap beetles from becoming a problem.

### 7. Conclusions

strawberries because they feed during the bloom period. It is important to note that poor pollination can also cause misshapen fruit. However, fruit misshapen from poor pollination will have seeds that vary in size while those injured by tarnished

Strawberry - Pre- and Post-Harvest Management Techniques for Higher Fruit Quality

Monitoring for tarnished plant bug should begin right before the start of bloom. Thirty flower clusters should be sampled evenly across the field by gently tapping them over a white piece of paper or another white surface. Nymphs will fall onto the white paper. The threshold is 0.25 nymphs before 10% bloom or more than 4 clusters infested [3, 7, 25]. The threshold rises to 0.5 nymphs per flower from mid to late bloom. There are also devices available to vacuum tarnished plant bugs off strawberry

and other plants. The threshold for vacuuming is one bug per 10 plants [7]. Controlling weeds is an important part of managing tarnished plant bugs because tarnished plant bugs feed on many different weeds [3, 7, 25]. In California, the parasitoid wasp Anaphes iole Girault, which is an egg parasitoid, is available commercially [7]. Bug-vacs can be used to manage mild to moderate infestations

but may also remove predatory insects and spiders from the plants [7].

The strawberry seed bug (Figure 15), Neopamera bilobata (Say), has recently become a pest of annual strawberry production systems in Florida. Adults are similar in appearance to tarnished plant bugs but are smaller and more enlongated in shape. Immatures closely resemble ants, especially at a distance. Ants have elbowed antenna and a narrow "waist" (narrow constriction between thorax and abdomen) while seed bug nymphs have straight antennae and the abdomen more broadly connected to the thorax. Adults and nymphs feed on developing fruit, which is suspected to cause injury to the fruit that can make it unmarketable. Research into economic impacts, thresholds, and treatment options is in the early

The strawberry sap beetle, Stelidota geminate (Say), is one of many sap beetles, family Nitidulidae, that are found in strawberry plantings. Along with the strawberry sap beetle, the dusky sap beetle, Carpophilus lugubris Murray, and the fourspotted sap beetle, Glischrochilus quadrisignatus (Say), are the most common

plant bugs will have seeds that are uniform in size [25].

6.3 Seed bugs

stages.

Figure 15.

118

The strawberry seedbug (photo credit: O. Dosunmu).

6.4 Sap beetles

This chapter has reviewed the most common strawberry pests in the United States at the time this chapter was written. Pest complexes in other regions of the world will differ. It is probably inevitable that other exotic species will slip through our borders and become pests like the spotted wing drosophila and chili thrips have done. Climate change and changes in agricultural practices, such as the use of high and low tunnel systems, may change the pest complex in different areas of the United States. It is important to be aware of these things when developing an IPM program.

### Author details

Oscar Liburd\* and Elena Rhodes University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

\*Address all correspondence to: oeliburd@ufl.edu

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
