The gum leaf skeletoniser (Uraba lugens) a significant pest in Australia is now well established on Eucalyptus spp in the Auckland region One larval parasitoid (Meteorus pulchricornis) and two pupal parasitoids (Xanthopimpla rhopaloceros and Anacis sp) were recorded from U lugens collected in southwest Auckland Parasitism of M pulchricornis and X rhopaloceros against U lugens and other hosts in New Zealand (Helicoverpa armigera and Epiphyas postvittana respectively) was compared using nochoice and choice tests under controlled conditions Uraba lugens is a suitable host for development of both M pulchricornis and X rhopaloceros Choice tests revealed that M pulchricornis prefers H armigera larvae to U lugens Attack by X rhopaloceros occurred only when host pupae were presented within their cocoons Meteorus pulchricornis may compete with proposed classical biological control agents introduced against U lugens while X rhopaloceros is more likely to complement them
Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, utilizes intact ripe fruits for oviposition and larval development. Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) and D. suzukii share a saprophytic microbial community, or microbiome, that colonizes the interior and exterior of the fruit, which benefits the nutrition and development of the flies. Some of the microbes, specifically yeast species, are also reportedly associated with a newly described slip-skin-like disorder of sweet cherries. In British Columbia (BC), Canada, contact-based insecticides and fungicides are applied to sweet cherry to suppress D. suzukii populations and cherry diseases, respectively. To date, no resistance to the organophosphate insecticide, malathion, in D. suzukii field or laboratory populations has been reported. Laboratory bioassays with malathion-incorporated diet determined that when microorganisms associated with the D. suzukii microbiome were sterilized with potassium metabisulfite (KMS), survival of the flies was significantly affected. These findings led to speculation that malathion residues on cherry fruit may be degraded due to the greater presence of yeast species that are spared as a result of selective fungicide use patterns in cherry orchards. In orchard trials, KMS was shown to be effective in suppressing the surface yeast counts on cherry, but this did not impact symptoms of slip-skin-like disorder. Based on these findings, it is recommended that other products functioning as systemic biocides need to be investigated to address these two microbial-connected pest management concerns in sweet cherries.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.