71 research outputs found
The Discovery of Trissolcus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) in Michigan
The invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is a pest of growing economic importance in the United States, the control of which currently relies on pesticide applications. Biological control could provide sustainable and long-term control but classical biological control agents have not yet been approved. Adventive populations of a potential biological control agents, the Samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead), have been found in the United States, first in Maryland in 2014, expanding its range west to Ohio by 2017. Trissolcus japonicus is a highly effective parasitoid of H. halys eggs, but its redistribution and augmentative releases are restricted to states where it has been detected in the wild. To assess the presence of T. japonicus in Michigan and attack rates of H. halys by native natural enemies we deployed 189 H. halys egg masses at ten sites in lower Michigan between May and October in 2018. In addition, we deployed 51 native stink bug egg masses at the same sites to evaluate potential non-target effects of T. japonicus in the field, which were shown to occur in laboratory studies. We found T. japonicus in a single H. halys egg mass, which constitutes the first record of this Asian parasitoid in Michigan. Native predators and parasitoids caused minimal mortality of H. halys eggs and we did not find evidence of non-target effects of T. japonicus on native stink bug species. These findings open the door to initiation of a classical biological control program using an efficient, coevolved parasitoid from the native range of H. halys
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Arthropod community organization and development in pear
Arthropod communities in pear are conceptualized as hierarchically
organized systems in which several levels of organization or subsystems
can be recognized between the species population level and the community
as a whole. An individual tree is taken to be the community habitat with
arthropod subcommunities developing on leaf, fruit and wood subcommunity
habitats. Over a hundred species are reported to colonize one or more
subcommunity habitats. Each subcommunity is composed of trophically
organized systems of populations. Each system of populations is comprised
of a guild of arthropods that use the habitat primarily for feeding but
also for overwintering or egg deposition, and associated guilds of
specialized predators, parasitoids and hyperparasitoids. Understanding
community organization entails understanding how subsystems and their
environments interact so as to be incorporated into a unified whole. Along
with the relatively specialized interrelationships so important in
organizing systems of populations, higher level community subsystems are
coupled through the activities of phytophagous and predaceous generalists
which feed in or take their prey from more than one subcommunity. In
meeting the habitat requirements of each of its life history stages,
several members of the pear community move from one subcommunity to
another during the course of community development and serve to integrate
these subsystems. Additional habitat, trophic and life history aspects of
subsystem incorporation and interpenetration are discussed.
Community development or change in organization through time is
conceptualized as being jointly determined by the development of the
habitat and the organization of the species pool. Seasonal development of
the pear arthropod community is described in terms of changes in the
species composition, size, and spatial distribution of guilds and
subcommunities. Community habitat development is taken to be the primary
determinant of changes in community structure and organization. As the
season progresses, changes in the kinds and biomass of developmental
states of each subcommunity habitat are accompanied by changes in the
kinds, number or biomass, and distribution of associated community
subsystems. Although the influence of habitat development on community
development is emphasized, it is from the the species pool that arthropods
colonize pear. The species that colonize, and their abundance and time of
arrival is partially determined by the organization of this system of
communities
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Monitoring codling moth in pheromone-treated orchards : comparison of lures
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Monitoring codling moth in pheromone-treated orchards : comparison of trap designs
The Discovery of Trissolcus japonicus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) in Michigan
The invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is a pest of growing economic importance in the United States, the control of which currently relies on pesticide applications. Biological control could provide sustainable and long-term control but classical biological control agents have not yet been approved. Adventive populations of a potential biological control agents, the Samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead), have been found in the United States, first in Maryland in 2014, expanding its range west to Ohio by 2017. Trissolcus japonicus is a highly effective parasitoid of H. halys eggs, but its redistribution and augmentative releases are restricted to states where it has been detected in the wild. To assess the presence of T. japonicus in Michigan and attack rates of H. halys by native natural enemies we deployed 189 H. halys egg masses at ten sites in lower Michigan between May and October in 2018. In addition, we deployed 51 native stink bug egg masses at the same sites to evaluate potential non-target effects of T. japonicus in the field, which were shown to occur in laboratory studies. We found T. japonicus in a single H. halys egg mass, which constitutes the first record of this Asian parasitoid in Michigan. Native predators and parasitoids caused minimal mortality of H. halys eggs and we did not find evidence of non-target effects of T. japonicus on native stink bug species. These findings open the door to initiation of a classical biological control program using an efficient, coevolved parasitoid from the native range of H. halys
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Monitoring codling moth in pheromone-treated orchards : comparison of high load lures
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