Annals of Applied Biology ISSN 0003-4746
REVIEW ARTICLE
In the light of new greenhouse technologies: 2. Direct effects
of artificial lighting on arthropods and integrated pest
management in greenhouse crops
N.S. Johansen
1
, I. V ¨ anninen
2
, D.M. Pinto
2
, A.I. Nissinen
2
& L. Shipp
3
1 Bioforsk Plantehelse, Norwegian Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research, Hoegskoleveien, Norway
2 MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Plant Production Research, Jokioinen, Finland
3 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre Harrow, ON, Canada
Keywords
Behaviour; biology; insects; light intensity;
mites; photobiology; photoperiod;
photoreceptors; plant protection; visual
ecology; wavelength distribution.
Correspondence
N.S. Johansen, Bioforsk Plantehelse,
Norwegian Institute of Agricultural and
Environmental Research, Hoegskoleveien 7,
N-1432
˚
As, Norway.
Email: nina.johansen@bioforsk.no
Received: 28 January 2011; revised version
accepted: 20 April 2011.
doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2011.00483.x
Abstract
Novel lighting technology offers the possibility of improved arthropod inte-
grated pest management (IPM) in artificially lighted crops. This review compiles
the current knowledge on how greenhouse pest and beneficial arthropods are
directly affected by light, with the focus on whiteflies. The effect of ultravio-
let depletion on orientation and colour-coded phototaxis are to some extent
studied and utilised for control of the flying adult stage of some pest species,
but far less is known about the visual ecology of commercially used biological
control agents and pollinators, and about how light affects arthropod biology
in different life stages. Four approaches for utilisation of artificial light in IPM
of whiteflies are suggested: (a) use of attractive visual stimuli incorporated into
traps for monitoring and direct control, (b) use of visual stimuli that disrupt the
host-detection process, (c) radiation with harmful or inhibitory wavelengths
to kill or suppress pest populations and (d) use of time cues to manipulate
daily rhythms and photoperiodic responses. Knowledge gaps are identified to
design a road map for research on IPM in crops lighted with high-pressure
sodium lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photoselective films. LEDs are
concluded to offer possibilities for behavioural manipulation of arthropods,
but the extent of such possibilities depends in practice on which wavelength
combinations are determined to be optimal for plant production. Furthermore,
the direct effects of artificial lighting on IPM must be studied in the context
of plant-mediated effects of artificial light on arthropods, as both types of
manipulations are possible, particularly with LEDs.
Introduction
In recent years, great effort has been put into the research
and development of new greenhouse lighting technol-
ogy in order to optimise plant production and quality
and to save energy (V¨ anninen et al., 2010 and references
therein). Manipulation of light intensity and photoperiod
by broad-spectrum high-pressure sodium lamps (HPSLs)
is the dominating lighting strategy in the boreal and
temperate zones at the moment (Moe et al., 2006), but
increasing interest is being focussed on different types
of less energy-demanding narrow spectrum lamps and
in photoselective covers and screens, and greenhouse
panes which combine high light transmission and insu-
lation values (Morrow, 2008; V ¨ anninen et al., 2010). The
light environment created by a combination of luminaries
and natural daylight, or by films or panes with different
spectral properties, deviates from the natural light envi-
ronment in spectral composition, light intensity, and in
the case of artificially lighted greenhouses, in photoperiod
duration. This artificial light environment can influence
herbivore pest and beneficial insects and mites living
in the crop indirectly via light-mediated changes in the
Ann Appl Biol 159 (2011) 1–27 © 2011 The Authors 1
Annals of Applied Biology © 2011 Association of Applied Biologists