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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
