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GREEN'S MEALYBUG

Pseudococcus citriculus Green -- Homoptera, Pseudococcidae

(Contacts)

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First found in Israel in 1937, green's mealybug has spread from its presumed origin in East Asia to Hawaii, Paraguay and Brazil (Rivnay 1968, Kennett et al. 1999). Bodenheimer (1951) verified it as a distinct species and not related to Psuedococcus comstocki (Kuwana). Rivnay (1968) found Green's mealybug to be attacked by many predators and parasitoids in Israel during 1939-40, some of which also are known to attack citrus mealybug. However, none of these produced acceptable biological control. Before Green's mealybug was definitely known as a separate species, parasitoids were obtained from Japan from P. comstocki (Kennett et al. 1999). Clausenia purpurea Ishii and Allotropa burrelli Muesebeck were numerous in the shipments (Rivnay 1942). Although A. burrelli did not reproduce on P. citriculus, C. purpurea did rear satisfactorily and became readily established. Rivnay (1946) considered that although several local parasitoids were highly competitive, C. purpurea became the dominant species. However Bodenheimer (1951) believed that of the natural enemies, Scymnus spp., Clausenia, Leptomastidea, Leptomastix, and Anagyrus, actually were satisfactory and that biological control would have resulted even without the introduction of C. purpurea. Nevertheless, Rosen (1967) and DeBach (1974) concluded that C. purpurea was the only parasitoid responsible for the complete control of P. citriculus.

For greater details pertaining to the biological control efforts, and biologies of host and natural enemies, please see the following (Bodenheimer 1928, Goncalves 1940, Klein & Perzelan 1940, Mason 1941, 1943; Rivnay & Perzelan 1943, Clancy 1944, Haeussler & Clancy 1944, Flanders 1959, Murakami et al. 1967).

REFERENCES: [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL Library ]

Bodenheimer, F. S. 1928. Contributions towards the knowledge of the citrus insects in Palestine. I. Preliminary report on the work of the Palestine breeding laboratory at Petahtikwa, 1924-27. Palestine Citrog. 1: 3-16.

Bodenheimer, F. S. 1951. Citrus Entomology in the Middle East. W. Junk, Publ., The Hague. 663 p.

Clancy, D. W. 1944. Hyperparasitization of Clausenia purpurea Ishii, an important parasite of the Comstock mealybug. J. Econ. Ent. 37: 450-51.

DeBach, P. 1974. Biological Control by Natural Enemies. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, New York. 323 p.

Flanders, S. E. 1959c. Pseudococcus citriculus Green and its parasites. J. Econ. Ent. 52: 880-82.

Goncalves, C. R. 1940. Observacoes sobre Pseudococcus comstocki (Kuw. 1902) atacando citrus no Baixada fluminense. Rodriguesia 4: 179-98. [in Portuguese].

Haeussler, G. J. & D. W. Clancy. 1944. Natural enemies of Comstock mealybug in the eastern states. J. Econ. Ent. 37: 503-09.

Kennett, C. E., J. A. McMurtry & J. W. Beardsley. 1999. Biological control in subtropical and tropical crops. In: Bellows, T. S. & T. W. Fisher (eds.), Handbook of Biological Control: Principles and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, New York. 1046 p

Klein, H. Z. & J. Perzelan. 1940. A contribution to the study of Pseudococcus comstocki in Palestine. Hadar 13: 107-110.

Mason, F. R. 1941. Notes on mealybugs and their parasites. In: Ann. Rept. Dept. Agric. & Fisheries (Palestine) for year ended Mar. 31, 1941: 4-15.

Mason, F. R. 1943. Notes on mealybugs and their parasites. In: Ann. REpt. Dept. Agric. & Fisheries (Palestine) for year ended Mar. 31, 1942: 10-12.

Murakami, Y., R. Morimoto & H. Kajita. 1967. Possibility of biological control of Pseudococcus comstocki in Japan. Mushi 39: 85-96.

Rivnay, E. 1942. Clausenia purpurea Ishii, a parasite of Pseudococcus comstocki Kuw. introduced into Palestine. Bull. Soc. Fouad ler Ent. Egypte 26: 1-19.

Rivnay, E. 1946. The status of Clausenia purpurea Ishii and its competition with other parasites of Pseudococcus comstocki Kuw. in Palestine. Bull. Soc. Fouad ler Ent. Egypte 30: 11-19.

Rivnay, E. 1968. Biological control of pests in Israel (a review 1905-1965). Israel J. Ent. 3: 1-156.

Rivnay, E. & J. Perzelan. 1943. Insects associated with Pseudococcus spp. (Homoptera) in Palestine, with notes on their biology and economic status. J. Ent. Soc. So. Africa 6: 9-28.

Rosen, D. 1967. Biological and integrated control of citrus pests in Israel. J. Econ. Ent. 60: 1422-27.