Paper · 2025 · Biological Control

Use of agricultural bioinputs and chemical Inputs: Implications for earwig diversity and pest control in soybean fields

Flávia Fagundes de Paula; Gleice Ane Souza Gonçalves; Nícholas Ferreira Camargo; et al.

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verbatim quotes
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citations
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research areas
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Open access · cc-by-nc

Abstract

• Earwigs correlated negatively with thrips and caterpillars, contributing to biological control. • Bioinput-based management enhanced earwig populations and pest suppression. • Noctuid caterpillars were more prevalent with higher toxic input use. • Euborellia annulipes dominated, representing 78% of individuals. Earwigs are omnivorous predators that feed on a wide range of arthropod pests, including caterpillars, thrips, aphids, and fruit fly larvae, and thus play a critical role in the biological control of pests of economically important crops such as soybeans. The growing adoption of bioinputs as alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides represents a promising strategy to reduce agrochemical dependence, enhance crop productivity, and support ecosystem-based pest regulation. This study aimed to assess earwig diversity in 19 soybean fields distributed along 11 farms in the state of Goiás, Brazil, subjected to varying levels of bioinput and chemical input application, analyze the population dynamics of earwigs and of their primary prey species, noctuid caterpillars and thrips, and investigate the relationship between the use of bioinputs and chemical inputs and earwig populations. Euborellia annulipes (Lucas) was the most abundant species. A significant negative correlation between earwig abundance and noctuid caterpillar pests and thrips underscores their role as effective biological control agents. Earwig abundance was positively correlated with the use of bioinsecticides and chemical pesticides with lower environmental hazard potential, and negatively affected by highly hazardous insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. These findings confirm the role of earwigs in integrated pest management and the importance of adopting environmentally conscious agricultural practices that preserve biodiversity and support sustainable crop production.

Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc. Read at the source ↗

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Claims 6

Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Euborellia annulipes dominated the earwig community in the soybean fields, representing 78% of individuals.

Taxon
Euborellia annulipesEuborellia annulipese0
Outcome
dominatede0
Value
78%e0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Euborellia annulipes
Euborellia annulipes · TaxonGrey Smith · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“Euborellia annulipes dominated, representing 78% of individuals”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 250–313 · show in text ↑
Associationobservedoriginal resultpositivesignificant (as stated)measured

Claim · model-written summary

Earwig abundance was significantly negatively correlated with noctuid caterpillar pests and thrips.

Taxon
earwige0
Interactor
noctuid caterpillar pestse0pest
Second interactor
thripsThripse0pest
Outcome
earwig abundancee0
Direction
negativee0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Thrips
Thrips · Second interactor · picture of the genus (one of its species)Alton N. Sparks, Jr., University of Georgia, Bugwood.org · CC BY 3.0 us · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“A significant negative correlation between earwig abundance and noctuid caterpillar pests and thrips”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1265–1365 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Bioinput-based management enhanced earwig populations and pest suppression.

Taxon
earwige0
Treatment
Bioinput-based managemente0
Outcome
earwig populations and pest suppressione0
Direction
enhancede0

Not reportedComparator

Verbatim

e0

“Bioinput-based management enhanced earwig populations and pest suppression”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 100–174 · show in text ↑
Associationobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Earwig abundance was positively correlated with the use of bioinsecticides and of chemical pesticides with lower environmental hazard potential.

Taxon
Earwige0
Treatment
bioinsecticides and chemical pesticides with lower environmental hazard potentiale0
Outcome
Earwig abundancee0
Direction
positively correlatede0

Verbatim

e0

“Earwig abundance was positively correlated with the use of bioinsecticides and chemical pesticides with lower environmental hazard potential”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1429–1569 · show in text ↑
Associationobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Earwig abundance was negatively affected by highly hazardous insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides.

Taxon
Earwige0
Treatment
highly hazardous insecticides, fungicides, and herbicidese0
Outcome
Earwig abundancee0
Direction
negatively affectede0

Verbatim

e0

“Earwig abundance was positively correlated with the use of bioinsecticides and chemical pesticides with lower environmental hazard potential, and negatively affected by highly hazardous insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1429–1655 · show in text ↑
Associationobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Noctuid caterpillars were more prevalent with higher toxic input use.

Taxon
Noctuid caterpillarse0
Treatment
higher toxic input usee0
Outcome
prevalente0
Direction
more prevalente0

Verbatim

e0

“Noctuid caterpillars were more prevalent with higher toxic input use”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 178–246 · show in text ↑