Biological control of the light brown apple moth using natural enemies

The confirmation of LBAM (Epiphyas postvittana) in California in March 2007 posed a new threat to the agricultural and horticultural industries of California, with the potential to cause millions of dollars in damage. Its current activity continues to be focused around the San Francisco and Santa Cruz regions, but it has the potential to spread more broadly throughout the state. LBAM originates from SE Australia, where it has been recorded from more than 250 plant species including crops, trees and ornamentals and thus California and the western region provide ample opportunity for potential establishment of this new pest. Here we review the biology and phenology of LBAM, and the potential for classical biological control of LBAM using exotic parasitoids from Australia should it become more widely established.