Laboratory screening of pesticides against Calocoris norvegicus, a non-target heteropteran in cereals.

Abstract

Heteroptera are one of the many non-target arthropod groups exposed to pesticides in cereals. In early summer, nymphs of Calocoris norvegicus (Heteroptera: Miridae) colonise headlands where they constitute a preferred insect food for grey partridge chicks (Perdix perdix) (1). Several recent studies have described the side-effects of cereal pesticides on beneficial invertebrate species (2). However C. norvegicus has not previously been studied; the species cannot be classified as directly beneficial. This paper describes an initial screening to determine the susceptibility of the species to pesticides used in cereal crops.