Mealybug species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) found on ornamental crops in California nursery production

2004·1.4 MB·

by  H M Laflin

PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
106(2), 2004. pp. 475-477
Note
Mealybug Species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Found on Ornamental Crops in
California Nursery Production
Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) basal portion of the leaves. Pseudococcus
are troublesome pests of ornamental crops viburni was found both on the roots and the
throughout temperate regions of the world, aerial portion of the plants, most commonly
including California. However, it is not cer- on short-term crops.
tain which mealybug species are most com- Seven other mealybug species were
mon in California greenhouses and nurser- found to occur less frequently. Many of
ies, and it is not known if recent, invasive these mealybugs were specialists found
species such as the pink hibiscus mealybug, only on one species of plant. For example,
Maconellicocciis hirsutus (Green), are pre- the phormium mealybug, Balanococcus
sent. diminutus (Leonardi), is found only on
Surveys and collections were made be- Phormium tenax, and the noxious bamboo
tween November 16, 2001 and March 7, mealybug, Antonina pretiosa Ferris, is
2003 to nurseries that reported mealybugs. found only on bamboo species (Ben-Dov
Additionally, mealybugs were also sent di- 1994).
rectly to the author by growers and advisors This survey allowed us to obtain a record
in University of California Cooperative Ex- of the mealybug species present in green-
tension. Mealybugs were collected or re- houses or nurseries in predominant growing
ceived from a total of 19 nurseries in five areas of California. As growers are increas-
counties. ingly interested in incorporating natural en-
The mealybugs were slide-mounted ac- emies into their insect control programs, in-
cording to methods adopted from Kozar- formation on species composition is helpful
zhevskaya (1968) and Williams and Gran- for directing future biological control pro-
ara de Willink (1992). Slide-mounted jects.
mealybugs were identified using keys by Thanks to K. Robb, S. Tjosvold and J.
McKenzie (1967) and an unpublished man- Newman (U.C. Cooperative Extension) for
uscript by R. J. Gill. assisting with mealybug collections. We
The mealybug species most frequently would also like to thank the University of
found in this survey of California green- California at Davis (arboretum and conser-
houses were the longtailed mealybug, Pseu- vatory), Humbolt State University, Dramm
dococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti), and Echter Inc., Robert Hall Nursery, Gold-
and the citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri en State Bulb Co., Anderson Seed Co.,
(Risso) (Table 1). With the exception of ro- Weidners' Gardens Inc., Aedes and Gish
ses, P. citri fed on many short-term crops Nurseries, Browns' Plant Inc., Sea Coast
such as coleus. whereas P. longispinus of- Greenhouses, Suncrest Nurseries Inc., Ca-
ten fed upon perennial crops such as cycad vanaugh Color. Kitayama Bros. Inc., Boe-
and Phonniiim tenax. The lilybulb mealy- thing Treeland Farms Inc., Sunshine Floral,
bug, Vrybiirgia amaryllidis (Bouche), and Keeline Wilcox Nursery. McLellan Botan-
the obscure mealybug, Pseudococcus vibur- icals, and Pajaro Valley Greenhouses Inc.
ni (Signoret), were commonly found as for allowing the collection of mealybug
well. Vryburgia amaryllidis is limited to a specimens at their nurseries. Thank you to
few plant families (especially Liliaceae and Ray Gill for allowing the use the manu-
Iridaceae). It occurs on the bulb and on the script; The Scale Insects of California: Part
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
476
Table 1. Records of mealybugs found during the California nursery survey.
Mealybug
Species
VOLUME NUMBER
106. 2 477
4. The Mealybugs (Coccoidea: Pseudococ- 248-253 (English translation. Entomological Re-
cidae). Funding was provided by The Cal- view 47: 146-149).
McKenzie, H. L. 1967. Mealybugs of California. Uni-
ifornia Association of Nurserymen and the
USDA versity of California Press, Los Angeles, 526 pp.
Nursery and Floriculture Research Williams, D. J. and M. C. Granara de Willink. 1992.
Initiative. Mealybugs of Central and South America. C.A.B.
International, Wallingford, 635 pp.
Literature Cited
H. M. Laflin, P. J. Gullan and M. R Par-
Ben-Dov. Y. 1994. A Systematic Catalogue of Mealy- rella. Department of Entomology, One
bugs of the World. Intercept Limited, Andover
Shields Avenue, University of California,
U.K., 686 pp. Davis, CA 95616, U.S.A. (e-mail: hlaflin@
Kozarzhevskaya, E. E 1968. Techniques for preparing
@
slides for coccid (Homoptera: Coccoidea) deter- hotmail.com; pjgullan ucdavis.edu;
@
mination. Entomologicheskoye Obozreniye 47: mpparrella ucdavis.edu)