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COMSTOCK MEALYBUG Pseudococcus comstocki (Kuwana)-- Homoptera, Pseudococcidae (Contacts) ----- CLICK on Photo to enlarge &
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Comstock mealybug became an extremely serious citrus pest in Israel in
1937 (Rivnay 1946, Clausen 1956, DeBach 1964). Clausenia
purpurea Ishii was
imported from Japan in 1940, which resulted in the mealybug ceasing to be a
pest. Rivnay (1946) reported that it
was subsequently very difficult to find the host. The mealybug invaded the United States and the Soviet Union,
becoming serious on apple. This
stimulated the introductions of Allotropa burrelli
Musesbeck, Pseudaphycus
malinus Gah. from Japan
to America and only the latter species to the Soviet Union. When Comstock
mealybug finally reached the San Joaquin Valley of California in the 1970's,
it caused considerable damage to ornamentals in cities and towns and
contaminated automobiles and walkways with sticky honeydew. Three species of parasitoids were
introduced directly from Japan, and readily became established (Meyerdirk et
al. 1981). These were P. malinus, A.
burrelli and Allotropa convexifrons Muesebeck. The native parasitoid Zarhopalus corvinus (Girard) and predators
Leucopsis ocellaris Malloch and Chrysopa spp. provide excellent
biological control (Meyerdirk et al. 1981, Ervin et al. 1983). Densities of the mealybug were reduced
>68% by this natural enemy complex (also see Harrar & McKelvey 1942,
Clancy 1944, Haeussler & Clancy 1944, Shutova 1947, Luzhetskii 1950,
Gaprinasvili & Tvaladze 1957, Stativkin et al. 1958, Morimoto et al.
1961, Sonina 1962, 1965; Takahashi 1963, Murakami et al. 1967). REFERENCES: [Additional references may be
found at: MELVYL
Library ] Clancy, D. W.
1944. Hyperparasitization of Clausenia purpurea Ishii, an important parasite of the Comstock
mealybug. J. Econ.
Ent. 37: 450-51. Clausen, C. P.
1956. Biological control
of insect pests in the continental United States. U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bull. No. 1139: 151 p. DeBach, P.
(ed.). 1964.
Biological Control of Insect Pests and Weeds. Reinhold Publ. Corp., New York. 844 p. Ervin, R. T., L. J. Moffitt & D. E.
Meyerdirk. 1983. Comstock mealybug (Homoptera:
Pseudococcidae): cost analysis of a
biological control program in California.
J. Econ. Ent. 76: 605-09. Gaprinasvili,
N. K. & J. I. Tvaladze. 1957.
On the question of using Cryptolaemus
to control Pseudococcus comstocki under conditions of
Tbilissi. 3rd. Conf. of the All-Union
Ent. Soc. II Tbilissi, p. 27-8. [in
Russian]. Haeussler, G. J. & D. W. Clancy. 1944.
Natural enemies of Comstock mealybug in the Eastern States. J. Econ. Ent. 37: 503-09. Harrar, J. G. & J. J. McKelvey, Jr. 1942.
Biological control of the mealybug (Pseudococcus sp.).
Phytopathol. 32: 7. Luzhetskii, A. N. 1950. Pseudaphycus as a parasite of
Comstock's mealybug. Bul. Akad.
Sci. Uzbek, S.S.R. 1: 34-54. [in Russian]. Meyerdirk, D. E., I. M. Newell & R. W.
Warkentin. 1981. Biological control of Comstock
mealybug. J. Econ.
Ent. 74: 79-84. Morimoto, T., M. Takeshita & H.
Hashimoto. 1961. Studies on the exterminatory effect of Spicaria rubido-purpurea
against Pseudococcus comstocki and Icerya purchasi in the field.
Dochi Univ. Res. Rept.
10: 17-20. [in Japanese]. Murakami, Y., R. Morimoto & H. Kajita. 1967.
Possibility of biological control of Pseudococcus comstocki
in Japan. Mushi 39: 85-96. Rivnay, E.
1939. Studies in the biology
and control of Pseudococcus comstocki Kuwana, on citrus in
Palestine. Hadar 12: 1-16. Rivnay, E.
1946. The status of Clausenia purpurea Ishii and its competition with other parasites of
Pseudococcus comstocki Kuw. in Palestine.
[Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea-Encyrtidae, and Hemiptera-Homoptera:
Coccoidea]. Bull. Soc. Fouad Ier Ent.
30: 11-19. Shutova, N.
1947. Biological control
methods for Comstock's mealybug. Sad.
i. Ogorod 3: 70-72. [in Russian]. Sonina, A.
K. 1962. Combined chemical
and biological methods of controlling Pseudococcus
comstocki. Zahch. Rast. Vred. Bol. 9: 49. Sonina, A. K.
1965. Biological control with Pseudaphycus malinus (Encyrtidae). Sadovodstvo 7: 19-20. Stativkin, V.
G., B. M. Peregonchenko & V. V. Sinitsyn. 1958. New method for the selection and
introduction of (prasitized pupae) of Pseudococcus
comstocki. Sel Kokhoz. Tadzhikistana 6: 53-5.
[in
Russian]. Takahashi, R.
1963. Experimental results on the
control of the Comstock mealybug.
Niigata Agric. Expt. Sta. Spec. Rept. 36: 1-120. [in Japanese]. |