Pest select database: a new tool to use selective pesticides for IPM.

Crop pests can be naturally controlled by a set of beneficial arthropods, as entomophagous predators or parasites, leading to a global reduction of pest occurrence and insecticide use. The selectivity of plant protection products for these beneficial arthropods is a key factor in the success of IPM strategies. An abundant scientific literature concerning this subject exists, but for the final pesticide users, the information is not always easily accessible or understood. The IOBC working group "Pesticides and Beneficial Organisms" (PBO) has developed a new database to compile all data concerning pesticide selectivity on beneficial arthropods, obtained with methods that followed the IOBC test standard characteristics. These standards have been developed since the 70's by the Working group Pesticide and Beneficial Organisms, in the context of IPM. This database includes a first set of data previously published, coming from the different Joint Pesticide Testing Programs, with the addition of results published later in the IOBC Bulletin. The second set of data has been extracted from the Public verse of the Draft Assessment Report (DAR), established by the different EU member' states in the context of the registration process at the European Level and available online on the EFSA website. As nearly all active ingredients have to be tested on at least 2 to 4 selected beneficial arthropod species with methods that followed the IOBC standard characteristics, these DAR represent an important source of information for pesticide users dealing with beneficial arthropods and selectivity, with about 50% of the actual records. This source was previously only exploited for registration purposes and not accessible to a large public, but a lot of results, mainly from the first tier testing, have been compiled and interpreted for IPM. The new database is available online on the area restricted to the IOBC-members (http:// www.iobc-wprs.org/restricted_member/toolbox.cfm). This database will be updated regularly on basis of the new IOBC publications, EFSA Draft Assessment Report and scientific publication results that followed IOBC standard characteristics.