In recent years, the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), has dramatically increased its pest status in California. There are extensive programs in insecticidal control and classical biological control underway. In some crops (e.g., citrus under IPM for its primary pests) and urban gardens there may be grower or public resistance to the application of the most effective pesticides. In addition, it will take time before newly introduced biological control agents begin to exert control. The augmentative release of natural enemies could allow such areas to be treated and avoid leaving untreated areas within a larger area-wide control effort.
In the spring and summer of 2001, replicated field cage trials were conducted in citrus in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Commercially available green lacewing nymphs, Chrysoperla rufilabris (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), were released using a high and low release rate onto caged citrus trees inoculated with uniform numbers of first and second instar sharpshooter nymphs. The results indicate that the high release treatment caused a significant reduction in sharpshooter nymph density relative to the control and low-release treatments. Future work will focus on augmentative releases of other commercially available predators as well as the efficacy of releasing native and exotic Gonatocerus spp. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) egg parasitoids.
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA