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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374298
Research Project: Developing New Potatoes with Improved Quality, Disease Resistance, and Nutritional Content

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Seasonal population dynamics of potato psyllid (Hemiptera: Triozidae) in the Columbia River Basin

Author
item COHEN, ABIGAIL - Washington State University
item WOHLEB, CARRIE - Washington State University
item RONDON, SILVIA - Oregon State University
item Swisher Grimm, Kylie
item Esquivel, Isabel
item MUNYANEZA, JOSEPH - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item JONES, VINCENT - Washington State University
item CROWDER, DAVID - Washington State University

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2020
Publication Date: 6/13/2020
Citation: Cohen, A.L., Wohleb, C.H., Rondon, S., Swisher Grimm, K.D., Esquivel, I., Munyaneza, J.E., Jones, V., Crowder, D.W. 2020. Seasonal population dynamics of potato psyllid (Hemiptera: Triozidae) in the Columbia River Basin. Environmental Entomology. 49(4):974-982. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa068.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa068

Interpretive Summary: : Potato psyllid is an economically important pest of potato and other solanaceous crops in the United States that growers must control each year through integrated pest management strategies that are often very costly. Researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato and Prosser, WA, in collaboration with Washington State University scientists sought to determine how seasonal winter and summer weather patterns might affect psyllid population dynamics and presence of an economically important pathogen that the psyllid transmits to potato. In addition to length and cold temperature during winter, data suggest that degree-day accumulation over time and total degree-day accumulation affect psyllid population size each year. Therefore, attention to winter conditions, degree-day accumulation and time of first catch are indicators growers could use to adjust their pest management strategies to likely be more cost- and time-effective

Technical Abstract: Understanding factors that affect the population dynamics of insect pest species is key for developing integrated pest management strategies in agroecosystems. Most insect pest populations are strongly regulated by abiotic factors such as temperature and precipitation, and assessing relationships between abiotic conditions and pest dynamics can aid decision-making. However, many pests are also managed with insecticides, which can confound relationships between abiotic factors and pest dynamics. Here we used data from a regional monitoring network in the Pacific Northwest USA to explore effects of abiotic factors on populations of an intensively managed potato pest, the potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli Šulc), which can vector Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurus, a bacterial pathogen of potatoes. We assessed effects of temperature on psyllid populations, and show psyllid population growth followed predictable patterns within each year, but there was considerable variation across years in psyllid abundance. Examination of seasonal weather patterns suggested that in 2017, when psyllid populations were less abundant by several orders of magnitude than other years, a particularly long and cold period of winter weather may have harmed overwintering populations and limited population growth. The rate of degree-day accumulation over time, as well as total degree-day accumulation also affected trap catch abundance, likely by mediating the number of psyllid generations per season. Our findings indicate that growers can reliably infer the potential magnitude of risk from potato psyllids using monitoring data, date of first detection, seasonal weather patterns, and population size early in the growing season