Economic impacts of Pink Hibiscus Mealybug in Florida and the United States

Abstract

This paper estimates the expected annual impacts of the Pink Hibiscus Mealybug infestation on the economies of Florida and the rest of the United States. The approach involves a Markov chain analysis wherein both short run and long run expected damages from infestation are calculated. Use is made of the CLIMEX model that predicts the potential pest-establishment regions in the US. While predictions based upon the CLIMEX model extend the scope of damages beyond Florida, the damages are significantly dependent upon the rate of arrival and detection of species in those regions. Damages are significantly higher when a longer time horizon is considered. When nursery owners bear the full cost of quarantines in the form of loss of sales and treatment costs of infected plants, the cost-effectiveness of quarantines as a regulatory tool is diminished. The long run propensity of the system, in terms of the fraction of time spent in the possible 'states' of infestation and control, determines the extent of damages, and not the annual value of crops that could be potential hosts to the pest.

Novel Approaches for the Management of Mealybug Pests

“…As well as wind, water, bed-soil, humans, and domestic and wild animals may aid the passive dispersal of mealybugs (Kosztarab and Kozár 1988). Among arthropods, ants have also been reported to disperse some mealybug species (Gullan and Kosztarab 1997;Malsch et al 2001;Ranjan 2006). Nevertheless, if conditions are favorable, crawlers usually settle on the natal host plant, often close to their mother, which leads to an aggregative distribution (Gullan and Kosztarab 1997;Nestel et al 1995).…”

Adventive (Non‐Native) Insects: Importance to Science and Society

“…Economic costs can be direct, involving exclusion, eradication, control, and mitigation; or indirect, involving human health or alteration of communities and ecosystems (Perrings et al 2005, McNeely 2001a). Indirect economic costs, which include ecosystem services (Charles and Dukes 2007), are more difficult to calculate, often are not considered, and can overwhelm direct costs (Ranjan 2006). Seldom considered are both the economic and environmental costs of using pesticides to control (or manage) immigrant pests.…”

Incidencia de la cochinilla rosada del hibisco en cultivares de mango de Nayarit, México

“…La presencia de una plaga puede causar fuertes impactos económicos directos o indirectos. Los impactos directos incluyen los costos de prevención, control, monitoreo y daños a las especies hospederas, mientras que los impactos indirectos incluyen pérdidas económicas ocasionadas por las cuarentenas, pérdidas en el comercio debido a interrupciones en el abastecimiento y las barreras comerciales que restringen las exportaciones para evitar la introducción y esparcimiento de la plaga (Ranjan 2006). La presencia de la CRH en los cultivos de mango en el estado de Nayarit puede causar un fuerte impacto econó-mico directo, ya que la mayor incidencia de la plaga se observó en el cultivar Ataulfo, que son árboles semi-vigorosos, muy productivos y poco alternantes, cuya época de producción ocurre de mayo a julio (Chávez-Contreras et al 2001).…”