HORTICULTURAL ENTOMOLOGY Detection of Contarinia nasturtii (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in New York, a New Pest of Cruciferous Plants in the United States

The midge Contarinia nasturtii Kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) was Þrst conÞrmed inNorthAmerica inOntario, Canada, in 2000. The insect is nowdistributed throughoutmany counties in theprovincesofOntario andQuébec.Nearly 1,200 farms in thenortheasternUnitedStates that grow cruciferous vegetables are at risk forC. nasturtii infestation if this insect were to spread to that region. Over a period of 3 yr (2002Ð2004), 3,000 ha of crops on 94 farms in western New York State was scouted for C. nasturtii, but none were found. In 2004, 42 experimental pheromone traps were placed inÞelds of cruciferous vegetables in eight counties.C.nasturtiimaleswere captured at low levels (1Ð50 per trap/8wk)on four farms inNiagaraCounty, but not at anyother site.C.nasturtii larvaewere found in plant tissue at one of the four farms. Insect specimens were identiÞed by morphological methods, molecular methods, or both. This is the Þrst conÞrmation of C. nasturtii in the United States, which we believe was made possible by the combined use of pheromone traps, morphological characters of trapped adults, and molecular methods. The early detection in New York presents an opportunity to implementmeasures to limit the spread andestablishment ofC.nasturtii across the state and into other regions of the United States.