Pesticides are an important tool to protect crops from pest damage. While pesticides are aimed at lolling pests, their chemistries and use must meet regulations and not pose harm to humans and nontarget organisms. For this reason, organophosphate insecticides like azinphos-methyl (Guthion) have been or are being phased out, and newer "reduced-risk" chemistries have been registered as replacements. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria, these reduced-risk pesticides are safer forhumans, birds, and fish, but they can have negative impacts on natural enemies like lacewings and predatory mites, resulting in secondary pest outbreaks. Our five-year Specialty Crop Research Initiative project "Enhancing Biological Control in Western Orchards" evaluated whether certain reduced-risk pesticides disrupt the biological control of secondary pests. In a series of laboratory experiments, we tested the effects of five insecticides and two fungicides on adult and immature stages of eight natural enemy species.
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