I. OBJECTIVES AND NEED FOR ASSISTANCE
The Megacopta cribraria (F.), an invasive alien insect, commonly known as bean plataspid, kudzu bug, globular stink bug, and lablab bug, are a major concern, throughout Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was first reported from Georgia in 2009 and in Florida it was first found in 2012 and since then it has spread rapidly and now found in 29 counties. This plant feeding insect is related to the stink bugs (Pentatomidae) and is native to Asia. The bean plataspid has become a serious pest threatening growers most of the Southeast US. The kudzu bug problem is also making worse by its large quantity in kudzu-infested urban areas where …show more content…
It can also complete life cycle in controlled condition on pigeon pea, black-eye pea, lima bean, pinto bean, alfalfa, red clover, white clover, white sweet clover, and other varieties of legumes. Therefore, this pest is a significant risk to agriculture in addition to being a major annoyance in the urban landscape. It is highly susceptible to pyrethroid insecticides, giving growers an economical tool for coping with the pest within agricultural systems. However, the widespread and abundant populations of the bean plataspid in kudzu pose a very difficult management problem for the urban environment and serves as a persistent source of pest populations for agricultural areas. The extensive kudzu infestations and the costs and environmental risks of treating these areas with insecticides, biological control is the best treatment option. It is an integral part of a successful Integrated Pest Management plan because biological control is one of the most successful methods of controlling invasive pests, using their own enemies against them. The established natural enemies can respond to host pest populations in and across kudzu patches with little human assistance.
The primary goal of this project is to establish a sustainable, classical biological control …show more content…
saccharalis by the summer of the 2017. By maintaining large numbers of the parasitoid in the laboratory throughout the winter we will be able to start releasing as soon as the bean plataspid reappears in the field in spring. These release sites will include our long term monitoring open field plots of Kudzu. Releases will take place throughout the growing season until the bean plataspid overwinters. We will continue to collect and evaluate data using the same standardized procedures for all sample sites once the agents are released. DPI is also investigating the use of insect growth regulators which have shown the ability to break diapause in hemipterans similar to the bean plataspid. In subsequent years field insectaries will be established so that parasitoids can be collected in large numbers in the field for release in other target areas without having to rely solely on large laboratory colonies. New biotypes of the parasitoid will be continually integrated into the program as they are identified and tested.
The molecular tracking system using Internal Transcribed Spacer region and species-specific primers for PCR will be ideal for tracking release and the establishment of biocontrol agents. This will aid to generate similar molecular tracking system for other bio-control agents in near
The Megacopta cribraria (F.), an invasive alien insect, commonly known as bean plataspid, kudzu bug, globular stink bug, and lablab bug, are a major concern, throughout Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was first reported from Georgia in 2009 and in Florida it was first found in 2012 and since then it has spread rapidly and now found in 29 counties. This plant feeding insect is related to the stink bugs (Pentatomidae) and is native to Asia. The bean plataspid has become a serious pest threatening growers most of the Southeast US. The kudzu bug problem is also making worse by its large quantity in kudzu-infested urban areas where …show more content…
It can also complete life cycle in controlled condition on pigeon pea, black-eye pea, lima bean, pinto bean, alfalfa, red clover, white clover, white sweet clover, and other varieties of legumes. Therefore, this pest is a significant risk to agriculture in addition to being a major annoyance in the urban landscape. It is highly susceptible to pyrethroid insecticides, giving growers an economical tool for coping with the pest within agricultural systems. However, the widespread and abundant populations of the bean plataspid in kudzu pose a very difficult management problem for the urban environment and serves as a persistent source of pest populations for agricultural areas. The extensive kudzu infestations and the costs and environmental risks of treating these areas with insecticides, biological control is the best treatment option. It is an integral part of a successful Integrated Pest Management plan because biological control is one of the most successful methods of controlling invasive pests, using their own enemies against them. The established natural enemies can respond to host pest populations in and across kudzu patches with little human assistance.
The primary goal of this project is to establish a sustainable, classical biological control …show more content…
saccharalis by the summer of the 2017. By maintaining large numbers of the parasitoid in the laboratory throughout the winter we will be able to start releasing as soon as the bean plataspid reappears in the field in spring. These release sites will include our long term monitoring open field plots of Kudzu. Releases will take place throughout the growing season until the bean plataspid overwinters. We will continue to collect and evaluate data using the same standardized procedures for all sample sites once the agents are released. DPI is also investigating the use of insect growth regulators which have shown the ability to break diapause in hemipterans similar to the bean plataspid. In subsequent years field insectaries will be established so that parasitoids can be collected in large numbers in the field for release in other target areas without having to rely solely on large laboratory colonies. New biotypes of the parasitoid will be continually integrated into the program as they are identified and tested.
The molecular tracking system using Internal Transcribed Spacer region and species-specific primers for PCR will be ideal for tracking release and the establishment of biocontrol agents. This will aid to generate similar molecular tracking system for other bio-control agents in near