The Hunt for Natural Enemies has Begun Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphornia citri, is considered to be one of the world’s most serious threats to economic citrus production because it vectors a bacteria, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, that causes Huanglongbing (HLB) (also known as citrus greening), a disease that is lethal to most varieties of citrus...
I have just returned from an eight week research trip to the Galapagos Islands. The purpose of the work that was done was to assess the impact and safety of Rodolia cardinalis, a biocontrol agent, which was released for the suppression of an invasive insect pest, the cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi. Cottony cushion scale...
March 29 to April 10 2010 The gold spotted oak borer (GSOB), Agrilus coxalis(Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is an invasive pest in Southern California that was first detected around 2004. This beetle has a natural distribution that extends from the oak forests in the mountains of Southern Arizona (i.e., the Santa Ritas, Santa Catalinas, Chiricahuas, and the...
Introduction by Mark Hoddle Have you ever wondered why only a small fraction of introduced species of plants and animals become invasive while others remain well behaved in their new home? This is a puzzling question for invasion biologists and regulators developing plans to manage invasive species. Dr. Norman Ellstrand, a Professor of Genetics in...
The Hunt for Natural Enemies has Begun Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphornia citri, is considered to be one of the world’s most serious threats to economic citrus production because it vectors a bacteria, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, that causes Huanglongbing (HLB) (also known as citrus greening), a disease that is lethal to most varieties of citrus...
Update on the Red Palm Weevil Infestation in Laguna Beach Today, representatives from the CISR and UCR, (Mark Hoddle and Mike Lewis), UCCE (John Kabashima and Don Hodel), the CDFA (Laura Petro), and the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office (Nick Nisson) visited the Laguna site with the palm tree infested with RPW. Around this infested...
Red Palm Weevil Technical Working Group Field Trip to Laguna Beach 29 November to 1 December 2010 The red palm weevil (RPW) technical working group (TWG) met for three days in Laguna Beach over the period 29 November to 1 December 2010. The TWG was comprised of experts working on RPW in Spain, Israel, and...
The Red Palm weevil (RPW) problem in southern California has picked up local news interest. Bill Whitaker and his news team from CBS evening news came to UCR on the 16th of February 2011 to interview Dr. Mark Hoddle about research that is being conducted at UCR on this pest. This interview was part of...
The discovery of red palm weevil (RPW) in Laguna Beach Orange County, California USA has generated considerable interest amongst University of California Riverside research scientists and County, State, and Federal regulatory agencies. There are two color forms of the red palm weevil, the orange form (known as Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) and the black form with the...
Two species of giant palm weevils, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (commonly known as the red palm weevil) and Rhynchophorus palmarum (South American palm weevil) have both been detected in Southern California. The red palm weevil (RPW) was officially discovered in Laguna Beach in Orange County (California USA) in September 2010. The beetle has been declared by FAO...