Classical biological control program for the mealybug Oracella acuta in Guangdong Province, China

Abstract

The mealybug Oracella acuta, native to the southeastern US, was accidentally introduced into slash pine plantations in Guangdong Province in China in 1988. A classical biological control program was initiated in 1995, and the parasitoids Allotropa oracellae, Acerophaus coccois, and Zarhopalus debarri were imported from the US. A total of 19 972 parasitized mealybugs were shipped to China from 1996-2004, from which 15 430 wasps emerged, 12 933 of which were the three target species. Efforts to establish a mass-rearing program for the parasitoids in China failed. Five field release sites were established, and 6 020 parasitoids were released. Only 118 individuals of the three imported species were collected during establishment checks, although several wasps were collected 1-2 years after the last parasitoid release. Over 2 000 Anagyrus dactylopii, a cosmopolitan parasitoid, emerged from the parasitized mealybugs collected, a majority from the Taishan area near the site of the original introduction of O. acuta. To date the imported parasitoids have failed to establish, and natural enemies have not noticeably reduced mealybug populations.

Biology and management of the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus peruvianus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in urban landscapes

“…Genus Acerophagus Smith consists of 46 species, all of which are parasitoids of mealybugs (Charles 2011). Although it might be a nonmonophyletic genus (Charles 2011), most of the species are of Nearctic and Neotropical origin, and some have been introduced in new areas to control invasive mealybugs: Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff from Mexico to control P. marginatus in the Caribbean, USA, and Pacific Islands, A. coccois Smith from Venezuela and the USA States to control Phenacoccus herreni Cox and Williams in Brazil and Oracella acuta (Lobdell) in China, and A. maculipennis (Mercet) from Australia and A. flavidulus (Brèthes) from Chile to control Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) in New Zealand and the USA respectively (Bento et al 1999;Charles et al 2004;Muniappan et al 2006;Daane et al 2008a;Amarasekare et al 2009;Clarke et al 2010). The successful biological control of P. peruvianus by Acerophagus sp.…”