- Author: Ben Faber
This is a call to prepare for pest invasions with an eye to proactive biocontrol written by Mark Hoddle in a recently published article in the journal BioControl:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-023-10206-5
A new paradigm: proactive biological control of invasive insect pests
Invasive insect pests are a significant and accelerating threat to agricultural productivity, they degrade wilderness areas, and reduce quality of life in urban zones. Introduction biological control, the introduction, release, and establishment of host-specific efficacious natural enemies, is an effective...
/h1>- Author: Saoimanu Sope
Sugar-feeding ants protect pests that infect trees and damage the fruit they bear. Insecticides are often a go-to solution, but may kill beneficial insects in the process, too. Thankfully, Mark Hoddle, University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist and biological control specialist at UC Riverside, together with UCR colleagues in chemical engineering, developed a biodegradable hydrogel baiting system that targets ant populations, which protect sap-sucking pests from...
Scientists use samba wasps to manage the invasive spotted-wing drosophila, a key pest of small andstone fruit worldwide
By Vaughn Walton
https://www.ishs.org/system/files/chronica-documents/ch6203.pdf
Recently, spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii, SWD) has appeared in fruit production areas worldwide. This invasive pest that resembles a vinegar fly, is highly damaging to berries and stone fruits. This fly infests these fruits as they ripen, costing half a billion dollars of crop damage annually in the USA. Affected crops include strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, and wine grape.
Most vinegar flies...
- Author: Ben Faber
UCCE & UCR Argentine Ant & Citrus Pest Management Field Day
Get Down with Argentine Ants
November 1 – Redlands, CA
November 2 – Saticoy, CA
Mornings: 8-12
Overview of Biocontrol Methods for ACP in Southern California, Mark Hoddle, Entomology and...
/span>![Leaves of a river red gum eucalyptus tree covered with redgum lerp psyllids. The white growths are the “lerp” produced by the immature (nymph) stage of the insect. [Credit: Jack Kelly Clark]](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/92910small.jpg)
If you have eucalyptus trees, you might have noticed white, crusty growth on the leaves. Or maybe you saw a sticky, blackened mess of fallen leaves under a eucalyptus tree. These are signs of the redgum lerp psyllid, one of the most common psyllid pests that damages eucalyptus trees in California.
The adult psyllid is very small and as nymphs, they are concealed under a waxy cap, or lerp. As they feed, they excrete honeydew which can lead to the growth of black sooty mold, the source of those sticky leaves under the tree.
Although under biological control in coastal areas, this pest is still a problem under some growing conditions and on specific Eucalyptus species. Cultural practices to manage...