Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research
Project Number: 2092-22000-022-041-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: May 1, 2022
End Date: Jun 30, 2025
Objective:
Objective 1: Test the hypothesis that winter predation of potato psyllid occurs in leaf detritus below plant hosts.
Objective 2: Identify parasitoids of beet leafhopper.
Objective 3: Survey non-crop hosts of beet leafhopper for predatory insects and use gut content analysis to identify species that feed extensively on beet leafhopper.
Approach:
Objective 1: Test the hypothesis that winter predation of potato psyllid occurs in leaf detritus below plant hosts. Current year activities: Extract (using Berlese funnels) potato psyllids and predators from leaf detritus collected in autumn and winter from below ground cherry, matrimony vine, bittersweet nightshade, and bindweed. Identify predators in samples and use molecular techniques to look for presence of potato psyllid DNA in predator guts.
Objective 2: Identify parasitoids of beet leafhopper. Current year activities: We have collected and stored parasitized beet leafhoppers from surveys conducted 2019 to 2021. We will use molecular techniques to putatively identify the parasitoids. During spring and summer, we will rear parasitoids from parasitized beet leafhoppers and use a combination of molecular and morphological techniques to identify species.
Objective 3: Survey non-crop hosts of beet leafhopper for predatory insects and use gut content analysis to identify species that feed extensively on beet leafhopper. Current year activities: We will collect generalist predators from hosts of beet leafhopper and use molecular techniques to detect beet leafhopper DNA in predator guts.
