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CITROPHILUS MEALYBUG Pseudococcus
calceolariae (Maskell) [Also named Pseudococcus fragilis Brain] -- Homoptera,
Pseudococcidae (Contacts) ------ CLICK on Photo to enlarge &
search for Subject Matter with Ctrl/F. GO TO ALL: Bio-Control Cases
This mealybug is thought to have originated in Australia, and it first
showed up as a pest of citrus in California in 1913. Since then it was found in Chile, New
Zealand, South Africa, the Soviet Union, Italy, Sardinia and the Canary
Islands. In California this mealybug
became a major pest in coastal citrus, infestations surpassing those of the
citrus mealybug (Clausen 1978a).
Periodic colonization of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
Mulsant, which was used for control of the citrus mealybug, was attempted
against P. calceolaria for a time, and
although partially successful in control, the requirement for additional
natural enemies became obvious when the mealybug extended its range and
increased in severity (Bartlett 1978).
This species had spread to more than 30,000 hectares of citrus by 1929
(Compere & Smith 1932). Smith & Compere
(1929) believed that P. calceolaria had originated in
Australia. Explorations conducted
there in 1927-28 uncovered two parasitoids, Hungariella pretiosa (Timberlake), Coccophagus
gurneyi Compere and some
predators. The parasitoids were
colonized in 1928-29, which resulted in complete control of citrophilus
mealybug within two years (Compere & Smith 1932). Bartlett & Lloyd (1958) found that P. calceolaria was heavily parasitized by Arhopoideus peregrinus (Compere), which was
introduced in 1934 for control of the long-tailed mealybug. Biological control in California was so
successful that even upsets by insecticides failed to return it to pest
status (DeBach 1974, Bartlett 1978, Clausen 1978a). These authors considered this successful biological control
even superior to that by Rodolia
cardinalis against Cryptochaetum iceryae. Prokopenko & Mokrousova (1963) in the
Soviet Union and Gonzalez (1969) in Chile also report successful biological
control of P. calceolaria on citrus (also see
Smith 1923, Smith & Armitage 1920, Woglum 1922, Compere 1928, Armitage
1929, Compere & Smith 1931, Clancy 1934, Flanders 1936, 1937, 1964; Cedaņa
1937, Quayle 1938, Bess 1939, Chochiya 1941, Joubert 1943, Ferris 1950 and
Clausen 1956, Kennett et al. 1999). REFERENCES: [Additional references may be
found at: MELVYL
Library ] Armitage, H.
M. 1929. Timing field
liberations of Cryptolaemus
in the control of the Citrophilus
mealybug in the infested citrus orchards of southern California. J. Econ. Ent. 22: 910-15. Bartlett, B.
R. 1978. Coccidae. In: C. P. Clausen (ed.), Introduced Parasites
and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds.
U. S. Dept. Agric. Agric. Handbk. No. 480, Washington, D.C. 545 p. Bartlett, B. R. & D. C. Lloyd. 1958.
Mealybugs attacking citrus in California--a survey of their natural
enemies and the release of new parasites and predators. J. Econ. Ent. 51: 90-93. Bess, H.
A. 1939. Investigations on
the resistance of mealybugs (Homoptera) to parasitization by internal
parasites, with special reference to phagocytosis. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 32: 189-26. Cedaņa,
S. 1937. Studies on the
biology of Coccophagus
(Hymenoptera), a genus parasitic on non-diaspidine Coccidae. Calif. Univ. Publ. Ent. 6: 337-400. Chochiya,
A. S. 1941. Propagation of Sympherobius in Abkhazia. Sprav. Vop. Karant. Rast (Moscow). 3: 7-9. [in Russian]. Clancy, D. W.
1934. The biology of Tetracnemus pretiosus Timberlake. Calif. Univ. Publ. Ent. 6: 231-48. Clausen, C.
P. 1956. Biological control
of insect pests in the continental United States. U. S. Dept. Agric. Tech. Bull. 1139. 151 p. Clausen, C.
P. 1978. Biological control
of citrus insects. Chapter 6, Vol. IV.
In: The Citrus Industry. Univ. Calif. Div.
Agric. Sci., Berkeley. 362 p. Compere, H.
1928. Successful importation
of five new natural enemies of citrophilus mealybug from Australia. Calif. Citrog. 13: 318, 346-49. Compere, H.
1931. New encyrtid
(hymenopterous) parasites of a Pseudococcus
species from Eritrea. Calif. Univ.
Publ. Ent. 5: 265-74. Compere, H. & H. S. Smith. 1932.
The control of the citrophilus mealybug, Pseudococcus gahani,
by Australian parasites. Hilgardia
6: 585-618. DeBach, P.
1974. Biological Control by
Natural Enemies. Cambridge Univ.
Press, London, New York. 323 p. Ferris, G. F.
1950. Atlas of the Scale
Insects of North America. V. The
Pseudococcidae (Part I). Stanford
Univ. Press, Stanford, CA & Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford Univ. Press,
London. 278 p. Flanders, S.
E. 1936. A biological
phenomenon affecting the establishment of Aphelinidae as parasites. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 29: 251-55. Flanders, S.
E. 1937. Oviposition
instincts and developmental sex differences in the genus Coccophagus. Univ.
Calif. Pub. Ent. 6: 401-22. Flanders, S.
E. 1964. Dual ontogeny of
the male Coccophagus gurneyi Comp. (Hymenoptera:
Aphelinidae): a phenotypic phenomenon.
Nature 204(4926): 944-46. Joubert, C. J.
1943. The introduction into
the Union of South Africa of some natural enemies of mealy bugs. J. Ent. Soc. South Africa 6: 131-36. 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 Gonzalez,
R. 1969. Biological control
of citrus pests in Chile. Proc. 1st
Intern. Citrus Symp., Riverside, Calif. 2:
839-47. Prokopenko, A.
I. & L. A. Mokrousova. 1963. Naturalization of a new parasite. Zasch. Rast. 11: 49-50. [in Russian]. Quayle, H. J.
1938. Insects of Citrus and
Other Subtropical Fruits. Comstock
Publ. Co., Ithaca, New York. 583 p. Smith, H. S.
1923. The successful
introduction and establishment of the ladybird, Scymnus binaevatus
Mulsant, in California. J. Econ.
Ent. 16: 516-18. Smith, H. S. & H. M. Armitage. 1920.
Biological control of mealybugs in California. Calif. State Dept. Agric. Monthly Bull. 9: 104-58. Smith, H. S. & H. Compere. 1929.
New insect enemies of the citrophilus mealybug from Australia. Bull. Calif. Dept. Agric. 18: 214-18. Woglum, R. S.
1922. Control of the
citrophilus mealybug. U. S. Dept.
Agric. Bull. 1040. 20 p. |