Irradiation has been recognized and endorsed as a potential phytosanitary measure that could be an alternative to current quarantine treatments. Dosages of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 Gy were used to irradiate three different life stages (eggs, immatures, and adults) of Planococcus minor (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), focusing on females due to its parthenogenesis ability, with an aim to...

Eggs, crawlers, early nymphs, late nymphs, and adults of the pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), were tested for their susceptibility to methyl bromide in 2-h laboratory fumigations at ambient conditions (25 degrees C, 95% RH). Dose-response tests indicated that the egg was the most susceptible life stage with an LC99 of 20.2 mg/liter. Based on probit analysis of dose-resp...

SIMILAR MEALYBUGS: There are several mealybugs that are reported as occurring on orchids, and in Florida the most commonly encountered mealybugs on orchids are: pineapple mealybug (Dysmicoccus brevipes), longtailed mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus), Jack Beardsley mealybug (Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi), orchid mealybug (Pseudococcus microcirculus) and the obscure mealybug (Pseudococcus viburn...

The hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, was first reported in the Caribbean in 1994 in Grenada. This was the first record of the insect as a major pest in the New World. By the beginning of 2001, the pest had spread to over 25 territories from Guyana and Venezuela in the South to Bahamas in the North. The pest has also extended its distribution to Central America (Belize) and Nor...

Mating disruption field experiments to control the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), were carried out in 2008 and 2009 in two commercial vineyards in Sardinia (Italy). The effectiveness of mating disruption was evaluated by testing reservoir dispensers loaded with 100 mg (62.5 g/ha) and 150 mg (93.8 g/ha) of the sex pheromone in 2008 and 2009, respectively...

Although density-dependent benefits to hemipterans from ant tending have been measured many times, few studies have focused on integrated effects such as interactions between ant tending, natural enemy density, and hemipteran density. In this study, we tested whether the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis is affected by tending by ghost ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum), the presence of para...

The effect of access to buckwheat flowers (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench; Polygonales: Polygonaceae) or vetch extrafloral nectaries (Vicia sativa L. cv. ‘cahaba white’; Fabales: Fabaceae) on the fitness of Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault) (Hymenotpera: Encyrtidae) (a parasitoid of the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus [Signoret]) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was determined in the laboratory. Female A...