Skip to main content
Entomology 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
 
Oral Presentation
Oral Presentation
Poster Display
Poster Display
Student Competition
Student Competition
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event

Student Regular 10-Minute Presentation

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student

Student Regular 10-min: P-IE, General 1

Too much or not enough? Optimizing intercropped sweet alyssum for lettuce pest biological control

Sunday, November 9, 2025
10:36 AM - 10:48 AM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, E146, OCC
Oral Presentation
California lettuce production is constrained by the presence of a few key pests. Controlling these pest populations typically involves regular insecticide application, but chemical control is often insufficient in quelling aphids and pathogen-vectoring thrips. The planting of sweet alyssum, either intercropped or in rows within a lettuce field, has been shown to boost natural enemy populations and aid in conservation biological control. However, the optimal implementation of this non-crop habitat is still being determined. Here, we examine the effects of alyssum density and landscape factors on romaine lettuce pest control in the California Central Coast. Our results will guide future researchers and stakeholders in determining best practices for pest control in lettuce.