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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #242220
Title: High Host Specificity in Encarsia diaspidicola (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), a Biological Control Candidate Against the White Peach Scale in Hawaii

Author
item NEUMANN, GABOR - University Of Hawaii
item Follett, Peter
item Hollingsworth, Robert
item DE LEON, JESSE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Biological Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/27/2010
Publication Date: 8/15/2010
Citation: Neumann, G., Follett, P.A., Hollingsworth, R.G., De Leon, J. 2010. High Host Specificity in Encarsia diaspidicola (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), a Biological Control Candidate Against the White Peach Scale in Hawaii. Biological Control 54: 103-113.

Interpretive Summary: Pre-introductory host specificity tests were performed with Encarsia diaspidicola, a biological control candidate against the invasive white peach scale. Three armored scales, a soft scale, a mealybug, a whitefly and a native palm scale were exposed to the wasp in quarantine. None of the non-target exotic species yielded wasp emergence, and exposure to wasps had no effect on the mortality of the test insects. Molecular tests with the endemic palm scale showed no evidence of parasitism by E. diaspidicola. These results suggested that E. diaspidicola has a narrow host range and that its release in Hawaii will have minimal risk of non-target effects.

Technical Abstract: Pre-introductory host specificity tests were performed with Encarsia diaspidicola, a biological control candidate against the invasive white peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona. False oleander scale, P. cockerelli, coconut scale, Aspidiotus destructor, cycad scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui, greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, green scale, Coccus viridis, and long-tailed mealybug, Pseudococcus longispinus were tested in quarantine using traditional no-choice tests and examined for wasp emergence. The Hawaiian endemic palm scale, Colobopyga pritchardiae was also tested using no-choice tests and evaluated using species specific molecular markers. All tests used unexposed non-target cohorts and no-choice exposure of white peach scale to the parasitoid as controls. None of the non-target exotic species yielded wasp emergence, and exposure to wasps had no effect on the mortality. Molecular tests with the endemic palm scale showed no evidence of parasitism by E. diaspidicola. These results suggested that E. diaspidicola has a narrow host range and that its release in Hawaii will have minimal risk of non-target effects.