The South American Palm Weevil Invasion in San Diego County, California The Situation: The South American palm weevil (SAPW), Rhynchophorus palmarum, is a non-native pest of palms that has established populations in San Diego County in California. In December 2010, this weevil was discovered infesting ornamental Canary Islands date palms (CIDP) ( Phoenix canariensis) in...

Mark Hoddle, Director, Center for Invasive Species Research, University of California Riverside 2017 IPM Achievement Awards for advancing reduced-risk pest management practices through innovation, leadership, and education and outreach. On 13 February 2018 at the California Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters in Sacramento, the Asian Citrus Psyllid Biocontrol Taskforce was awarded the Integrated Pest Management (IPM)...

Written by: Mark Hoddle Department of Entomology, UC Riverside Email: mark.hoddle@ucr.edu More Research: UCR Biocontrol Website The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, is a highly invasive and extremely damaging pests of palms, especially ornamental Canary Islands date palms ( Phoenix canariensis) (CIDP’s), and date palms ( Phoenix dactylifera) that produce fruit for human consumption...

The South American palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is well established in parts of San Diego County in California and is responsible for killing numerous Canary Islands date palms. The spectacular damage this invasive pest causes and the large showy adult weevils and alien-looking larvae and pupae, captured the imagination of Elliott Kennerson and...

Written by: Mark Hoddle Email: mark.hoddle@ucr.edu More Research: UCR Biocontrol Website Written by: Mary Lu Arpaia Email: mlarpaia@ucanr.edu More Research: UCR Department of Botany & Plant Sciences California is a recognized world leader in avocado production and is renowned for high quality Hass avocado fruit. The strength of the California avocado industry has resulted from...

Written by: Allison Bistline-East Email: a.bistline-east1@nuigalway.ie More Research: UCR Biocontrol Website The Problem. In 2008, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae), was first detected in California. Since its establishment in California, commercial citrus growers and homeowners alike have become familiar with this notorious pest and the threat it represents as a vector...

Fig. 1. Rhynchophorus vulneratus, the palm weevil discovered in Laguna Beach, California in October 2012. Fig. 2. Red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, adult, larva (white grub), and pupa extracted from a Canary Islands date palm in France. Fig. 3. Dead Canary Islands date palm killed by R. vulneratus in Laguna Beach. Fig. 4. Red palm...

The Problem Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is a serious threat to California’s citrus because it spreads a bacterium that causes a lethal disease of citrus, huanglongbing, which was first detected in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County in March 2012. One way to reduce the rate of spread of HLB is to reduce the populations of...

Written by: Erica J. Kistner (Postdoctoral Scholar, UC Riverside) Photos by: Mike Lewis, Mark Hoddle and Nayham Melhem The Problem: Since its accidental introduction in 2008, the invasive Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) is now widespread throughout southern CA including San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties. ACP may present the greatest...

Anna Kuchment, Editor for Scientific American, produced a very nice article ( “End of Orange Juice ” [Scientific American vol. 308 pp. 52-59, March 2013]) on the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing situation in California, Florida, and other countries affected with this pest and disease. During Anna’s visit to UC Riverside to cover this story...

Article by Mark S. Hoddle, Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside CA 92521, USA Background: Entomophagy is the consumption of insects by humans for food. This is an ancient practice that tends to be concentrated in certain parts of the world, notably tropical and sub-tropical regions, where there is a diversity of large insects...

A Pheromone Trapping Program for the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug ( Halyomorpha halys) Begins in Los Angeles County, California Brown marmorated stinkbug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Hemitpera: Pentatomidae), is an invasive insect pest native to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. It was first discovered and officially documented on the east coast of the USA around 1998. This...

Written by: Vanessa Lopez (Ph.D. Candidate, UC Riverside) Mark Hoddle, Ph.D. (Biological Control Specialist and Principal Investigator) Photos by: Mike Lewis and Vanessa Lopez Background The goldspotted oak borer (GSOB), ( Agrilus auroguttatus) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae),is a recent pest of native oak trees in southern California. This fairly small beetle (about 10 mm long and 2...

The Situation: On 27 March 2013, a Canary Island palm on the Pacific Coast Highway that had been previously inspected and treated for red palm weevil (RPW) infestation in June 2011 was removed by MPA Landscape Services (Chuck Galanti). The palm was removed because it was causing structural problems to an adjacent building, and notbecause...

Written by: Mary Lu Arpaia (Extension Specialist, UC Riverside) David Obenland (Plant Physiologist, USDA-ARS) Photos by: Mary Lu Arpaia We recently had the opportunity to visit Israel and spend several days looking at avocados including a visit with Zvi Mendel and Stanley Freeman, the lead researchers in Israel on the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB)...

The Problem: Tamarixia radiata , a tiny parasitic wasp has been imported into California from the Punjab of Pakistan to attack nymphs of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) , a serious citrus pest that has established wide spread populations in the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside (significantly smaller populations are known in Imperial...

Since the first official detection of red palm weevil (RPW) in September 2010, the California Department of Food and Agriculture has been running a pheromone trapping program for this pest in Laguna Beach. As part of this trapping program, CDFA is monitoring 153 traps that are set up in two different patterns. The core area...

The Situation: On Thursday April 5 2012, after about a week of testing, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) removed a pumelo tree with a lemon graft from Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County after the tree and an Asian citrus psyllidfound on the tree both tested positive for a lethal citrus disease...

The red stripe form of red palm weevil (referred to here as Rhynchophorus vulneratus) is harvested for food from nipa palm trunks in parts of Sumatra by rural and semi-rural agrarians. Nipa palms ( Nypah fruticans; known as buah atap in Indonesia) typically grow in swampy muddy areas (in either fresh or brackish water conditions)...

Christina Hoddle explains the release of Tamarixia radiata at UC Riverside. Video recorded on December 20, 2011 at University California Riverside. For more information about Tamarixia radiata and Asian Citrus Psyllid, visit the CISR website: http://cisr.ucr.edu/asian_citrus_psyllid.html