The ambrosia beetles Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) and Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) bore into flood-stressed trees to establish colonies, but the influence of flooding duration on colonization is unknown. This relationship was examined by flooding trees for various time periods and evaluating colonization. In one experiment, X.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are destructive wood-boring insects of horticultural trees. We evaluated long-lasting insecticide netting for protecting stems against ambrosia beetles. Container-grown eastern redbud, , trees were flood-stressed to induce ambrosia beetle attacks, and deltamethrin-treated netting was wrapped from the base of the stem vertically to the branch junction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe majority of wood-boring ambrosia beetles are strongly attracted to ethanol, a behavior which could be exploited for management within ornamental nurseries. A series of experiments was conducted to determine if ethanol-based interception techniques could reduce ambrosia beetle pest pressure. In two experiments, trap trees injected with a high dose of ethanol were positioned either adjacent or 10-15 m from trees injected with a low dose of ethanol (simulating a mildly stressed tree) to determine if the high-dose trap trees could draw beetle attacks away from immediately adjacent stressed nursery trees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe documented the species composition, seasonal ecology, and impacts of parasitoids and predators of Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché) and P. quercifex (Fitch) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) in the urban landscapes of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, United States. Twenty-one parasitoid morphospecies and 12 predator species were collected through rearing, beat sheet, and sticky card trapping.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimal-microbe mutualisms are typically maintained by vertical symbiont transmission or partner choice. A third mechanism, screening of high-quality symbionts, has been predicted in theory, but empirical examples are rare. Here we demonstrate that ambrosia beetles rely on ethanol within host trees for promoting gardens of their fungal symbiont and producing offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study was conducted to better understand the life history of Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché) and Parthenolecanium quercifex (Fitch) (Hemiptera: Coccidae), and to develop degree-day models for crawler emergence of the two soft scale species in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Both species were univoltine in the southeastern United States. In South Carolina, eggs hatched from mid-April to early June; second instars began to appear in September and migrated to twigs to overwinter in October; and third instars and adults appeared in mid-March to early April.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbrosia beetles tunnel into the heartwood of trees where they cultivate and feed upon a symbiotic fungus. We assessed the effectiveness of flood stress for making Cercis canadensis L. and Cornus florida L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSome exotic ambrosia beetles are damaging pests in ornamental nurseries. Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) is the most problematic ambrosia beetle in Ohio nurseries. Movement of X.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExotic Xylosandrus spp. ambrosia beetles established in non-native habitats have been associated with sudden and extensive attacks on a diverse range of living trees, but factors driving their shift from dying/dead hosts to living and healthy ones are not well understood. We sought to characterize the role of host physiological condition on preference and colonization by two invaders, Xylosandrus germanus and Xylosandrus crassiusculus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWood-boring ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), including Xylosandrus spp., are key pests in ornamental nurseries. Knowledge of their activity in spring is important for nursery growers to effectively time their protective sprays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe examined the extent to which verbenone, a bark beetle antiaggregation pheromone, interrupted the semiochemical-based attraction of ambrosia beetles. Field trapping studies conducted in Ohio showed that a verbenone dispenser with a release rate of 50 mg/d at 25°C reduced the attraction of Anisandrus sayi Hopkins, Euwallacea validus (Eichhoff), Hypothenemus dissimilis (Zimmermann), Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford), and Xyleborinus saxesenii (Ratzeburg) to ethanol-baited traps. A verbenone dispenser attached to ethanol-injected Magnolia virginiana L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExotic ambrosia beetles are damaging pests in ornamental tree nurseries in North America. The species Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motshulsky) and Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) are especially problematic. Management of these pests relies on preventive treatments of insecticides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica (Hahn) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a piercing-sucking pest of cole crops, causing cosmetic damage in low populations, while heavy pest pressure can kill plants or entire fields. Field studies were conducted to evaluate a trap crop for control of harlequin bug in collard. Field-cage choice tests found that potential trap crop plant species, mustard (Brassica juncea 'Southern Giant Curled'), rapeseed (B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXylosandrus germanus (Blandford) and other species of ambrosia beetles are key pests of ornamental nursery trees. A variety of laboratory- and field-based experiments were conducted in pursuit of improved monitoring strategies and to develop a trap tree strategy for ambrosia beetles. Traps baited with bolts prepared from Magnolia virginiana L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe exotic ambrosia beetles Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) and Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are serious pests in ornamental tree nurseries. To optimize bottle-traps as a monitoring system for X. crassiusculus and X.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) pose a significant challenge to producers of ornamental nursery stock. Conventional insecticides are commonly used for management purposes, but plant-derived essential oils also may discourage ambrosia beetles from initiating attacks. To identify promising commercially available products, field-based efficacy trials were conducted in Ohio in 2009 and 2010 with the following products: Armorex (Soil Technologies), Cinnacure (Proguard, Inc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFField-based trapping experiments were conducted in Ohio in 2003, 2004, and 2008 to determine the influence of (-)-alpha-pinene on the attraction of exotic and native ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) to ethanol-baited traps. In 2003 and 2004, we determined the effect of adding an (-)-alpha-pinene ultrahigh release lure (UHR; 2 g/d at 20 degrees C) to traps baited with an ethanol UHR lure (0.39 g/d).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dispersal ability of Trichogramma ostriniae Pang and Chen, a biological control agent of Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner, was studied in commercial potato fields on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The purpose was to quantify dispersal of T. ostriniae after an inundative release to aid in determining the number of release points needed per unit area for effective biological control of O.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing multiple locations and a series of field trials over 2 yr, we evaluated an integrated pest management program for Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) management in peppers involving biorational chemistries, inundative releases of Trichogramma ostriniae (Pang & Chen), and conservation of generalist predators. In small plot trials, three biorational insecticides (spinosad, indoxacarb, and methoxyfenozide) provided comparable control of O. nubilalis as two broad-spectrum conventional insecticides (acephate and lambda-cyhalothrin).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFField and laboratory-choice experiments were conducted to understand aspects of host plant orientation by the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), in Virginia. In laboratory bioassays, L. decemlineata oriented to volatiles emitted by potato, Solanum tuberosum L.
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