The encyrtid parasitoid, Coccidoxenoides peregrinus has been used as a biological control agent against the mealybugs Planococcus citri and Planococcus ficus. This study examined the behavior and host selection of C. peregrinus attacking P. ficus. Adult parasitoids were fed a 0.1% solution of acridine orange, a DNA binding dye used to label C. peregrinus eggs. In a choice test, adult parasitoid...

A simple molecular tool was developed and tested to identify seven mealybug species found in North American vineyards: Pseudococcus maritimus Ehrhorn, Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni-Tozzeti), Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), Planococcus ficus (Signoret), Planococcus citri (Risso), and Ferrisia gilli Gullan. The developed multiplex PCR is based on the mit...

Occurrence of inter-species hybrids in natural populations might be evidence of gene flow between species. In the present study we found evidence of gene flow between two sympatric, genetically related scale insect species--the citrus mealybug Planococcus citri (Risso) and the vine mealybug Planococcus ficus (Signoret). These species can be distinguished by morphological, behavioral, and molecu...

A simple molecular tool was developed and tested to identify seven mealybug species found in North American vineyards: Pseudococcus maritimus Ehrhorn, Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni-Tozzeti), Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), Planococcus ficus (Signoret), Planococcus citri (Risso), and Ferrisia gilli Gullan. The developed multiplex PCR is based on themito...

VINCENZO CAVALIERI, GAETANA MAZZEO, GIOVANNA TROPEA GARZIA, EMANUELE BUONOCORE & AGATINO RUSSO Di.S.Te.F. (Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Fitosanitarie), Università degli Studi di Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, I 95123 Catania. E-mail: [email protected] Servizio Fitosanitario, Regione Siciliana, U.O. 54-O.M.P. via Sclafani 34, I 95024 Acireale (Catania). E-mail: [email protected]

To understand ecological factors mediating the spread of insect-borne plant pathogens, vector species for these pathogens need to be identified. Grapevine leafroll disease is caused by a complex of phylogenetically related closteroviruses, some of which are transmitted by insect vectors; however, the specificities of these complex virus-vector interactions are poorly understood thus far. Throug...

The vine mealybug (VM), Planococcus ficus (Signoret), is an Afrotropical species, whose worldwide populations probably originated from the Mediterranean basin. It was introduced to the Americas during the second half of the 20th century (Ben-Dov 1994; Gill 1994). Until the early 1980s, this pest was frequently misidentified as the citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri (Risso), as both Planoccocus ...

the mealybug fauna of southern iran (systan & baluchestan, hormozgan, bushehr, khuzeztan and fars provinces) is unknown to many coccidologists. in this paper, 17 mealybug species from the south of iran with their host plants are reported.maconellicoccus hirsutus (green), nipaecoccus viridis (newstead) and planococcus ficus (signoret) are the important pests and ferrisia virgata (cockerell), dys...