DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10648123
title: Thermal Tolerance Ranges of 30 species used as biological control of garden pests

description: This dataset is a compilation of thermal tolerance ranges for 30 species currently used as biological control for a variety of garden pests; all temperatures are recorded in °C. Pest species can reduce yield and cause damage to crops. Chemical pesticides are often used to treat agricultural areas, but can have adverse effects on human health and biodiversity. Biological control agents exist in the form of bacteria, fungi and insect species; some are generalists and others specialists, offering a range of alternatives to chemical pesticides (Ayilara et al., 2023). Several such species are currently commercialised and readily available for purchase online; however, the selection is relatively limited and the species offered are not always suited for every possible climate. This dataset seeks to identify some lesser known biological control agents and compile them with widely commercialised species, with special interest in their tolerated thermal range. Certain species are better suited for cooler climates, while others tend to be more effective at warmer temperatures. With climate change increasingly threatening agricultural systems, some pest species developing resistance towards current chemical pesticides, and the threat of invasive species establishment with shifting climatic conditions, it is worth investigating biological control agents with a potential to treat agricultural land and even adapt to increasingly extreme temperatures (Ramos Aguila et al., 2023). 

 

The literature search used to compile data identified research papers where thermal thresholds for each of the 30 species were investigated through scientific experimentation in a relatively controlled laboratory environment. Where possible, only papers published after 1990 were selected. Research and data availability greatly varied with how commonly observed each species was. Species were only added to the dataset if their thermal tolerance range had been researched with a clearly described method; where such material was not published, potential species were discarded and others were chosen instead. Within the literature, there were several methods used to estimate thermal tolerance range, such as exposing specimens to short-term stress (increased or decreased temperatures) for 1 hour intervals (Hill, Malan and Terblanche, 2015), or rearing specimens at set temperatures long-term to observe their developmental success throughout life stages (Gotoh, Yamaguchi and Mori, 2004). 

 

The method used to estimate thermal tolerance range and the insect host chosen to evaluate infectivity success can yield different results within a species, especially among the generalist species (Zimmermann, 2008). Therefore, the metadata includes details such as which host specimens and surrounding plants the studies species were reared with, as well as how many different temperature intervals were tested. Some studies focused primarily on warmer temperatures, while others tested both the warmer and colder limits equally. Nevertheless, another requirement when sifting through the available material was the papers needed to explicitly mention a maximum and minimum temperature at which the selected species was active. A clear limitation to this approach is certain studies defined their thermal ranges as temperatures at which species were simply active, while others focused more on larval hatching and developmental success rather than adult mortality. The most detailed studies were those which identified temperature thresholds at which mobility stopped and chill / heat comas ensued (Coombs and Bale, 2012).

 

 

Reference List: 

 

Ayilara, M.S., Adeleke, B.S., Akinola, S.A., Fayose, C.A., Adeyemi, U.T., Gbadegesin, L.A., Omole, R.K., Johnson, R.M., Uthman, Q.O. and Babalola, O.O. (2023). Biopesticides as a promising alternative to synthetic pesticides: A case for microbial pesticides, phytopesticides, and nanobiopesticides. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1040901. 

 

Coombs, M.R. and Bale, J.S. (2012). Comparison of thermal activity thresholds of the spider mite predators Phytoseiulus macropilis and Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Experimental and Applied Acarology, 59(4), pp.435–445. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9619-9.

 

Gotoh, T., Yamaguchi, K. and Mori, K. (2004). Effect of temperature on life history of the predatory mite Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) californicus (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Experimental and Applied Acarology, 32(1/2), pp.15–30. doi:https://doi.org/10.1023/b:appa.0000018192.91930.49. 

 

Hill, M.P., Malan, A.P. and Terblanche, J.S. (2015). Divergent thermal specialisation of two South African entomopathogenic nematodes. PeerJ, 3, p.e1023. doi:https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1023. 

 

Ramos Aguila, L.C., Li, X., Akutse, K.S., Bamisile, B.S., Sánchez Moreano, J.P., Lie, Z. and Liu, J. (2023). Host–Parasitoid Phenology, Distribution, and Biological Control under Climate Change. Life, [online] 13(12), p.2290. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/life13122290. 

 

Zimmermann, G. (2008). The entomopathogenic fungiIsaria farinosa(formerlyPaecilomyces farinosus) and theIsaria fumosoroseaspecies complex (formerlyPaecilomyces fumosoroseus): biology, ecology and use in biological control. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 18(9), pp.865–901. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09583150802471812. 



Data Reference List: 

 

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