- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Scientists are rearing tiny Asian wasps in quarantine and evaluating whether they can be released in California to battle brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), an invasive pest that poses a serious threat to the state's $54 billion agricultural industry, they reported in the current issue of California Agriculture journal.
The wasp, Trissolcus japonicus, has scientists feeling hopeful, said Chuck Ingels, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sacramento County and one of the 10 authors of the article. Ingels and a team of UC and California Department of Food and...
- Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
Ants can be a huge nuisance in and outside our homes, particularly if you have food lying around. But now, it turns out, they’re unwelcome, too, on citrus trees.
A year ago, UC Riverside entomologists released Tamarixia, a parasitoid wasp and natural enemy of the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) imported from Pakistan, into a biocontrol grove in Riverside, Calif. Tamarixia can serve as an excellent biocontrol agent against ACP, a citrus pest first detected in 2008 in Southern...