- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
At a Nov. 16 research symposium in Oxnard, hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension and Hansen Agricultural Center, UC Riverside entomologist Mark Hoddle said that he had completed the testing required to secure federal approval for release of a tiny wasp that preys on ACP, reported John Krist in the Ventura County Star.
The federal government has promised to expedite approval, the article said. Some of the natural enemies - collected in the Punjab, Pakistan - could be carrying the fight against ACP into Los Angeles yards by the end of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Dozens of foreign insects and plant diseases slipped undetected into the United States in the years after 9/11, when authorities were so focused on preventing another attack they overlooked a pest explosion that threatened the quality of the nation's food supply, the Associated Press reported today. The article was picked up by Politico.com, CBS News and other national publications.
"Whether they know it or not, every person in the country is affected by this, whether by the quality or cost of their food, the pesticide residue on food or not being able to enjoy the outdoors...
- Author: Brenda Dawson
Reporter Amina Khan with the LA Times profiled husband-and-wife entomologist team Christina and Mark Hoddle of UC Riverside (Mark is also a UC Cooperative Extension entomology specialist). The pair travel the world seeking parasitoids that can serve as biological control to invasive California pests and then test the results at the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside. "Bugs don't take weekends," Christina Hoddle told the reporter, "so neither do we."
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Officials have confirmed that the red palm weevil is not confined to a single palm tree in Laguna Beach, according to a story in the Daily Pilot. Just blocks from the first infested tree, another Canary Islands date palm is being killed by red palm weevil.
UC Riverside Cooperative Extension entomologist Mark Hoddle said the crown of the second infested palm has dropped off, and the top of the trunk is ringed with a 'halo' of palm fronds.
"The trunk of the palm has been heavily damaged internally by feeding red palm weevils. The central portion of the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The avocado seed moth, Stenoma catenifer, could wreak havoc on California's avocados should the pest make its way to the state, according to UC Riverside entomologist Mark Hoddle.
Hoddle is in Peru until July to study pests of avocados in the South American country, according to a UC Riverside press release written by Iqbal Pittalwala. The avocado seed moth is native to Peru, and is particularly destructive in avocado-growing areas in the Chanchamayo region of the Junin District – a warm, humid jungle zone, the release said.
"As part of the...
