Control of grape berry moth larvae using parasitoids: should it be developed?

Abstract: Besides mating disruption techniques and progress in monitoring techniques (e.g. theuse of food traps against females), biological control may reveal itself very efficient at controllinggrape moth populations. Parasitoids active to control grape moths are known for long invineyards; few of them were already described in the middle of the 19th century in Frenchvineyards and their efficiency was already recognized especially against the diapausing and thefirst spring generations of the moths. Rather numerous attempts to release egg parasitoids havebeen done in different European countries using different species of trichogrammas. The resultsobtained varied a lot and could not yet clearly promote the use of this technique in vineyards. Webelieve that a biological control based on larval parasitoids could efficiently be developed as avaluable alternative to chemical control. In the present paper, we focus on larval parasitoidsamong which ichneumonids and chalcidoids (Hymenoptera) dominate, and present resultsobtained in different French vineyards (Bordeaux vineyard, Perpignan and Montpellier area,Côtes du Rhône and Alsace). We discuss factors that may favour or reduce their efficiency asbiocontrol agents.