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We will be holding an
Invasive Species Workshop at the Yuma Ag Center on July 24 beginning at
noon with a yummy lunch, and followed up with speakers from the University of Florida
and Georgia who will inform us on a couple of potential invasive insect pests that
we should be on the lookout for. It should be very informative meeting. Invasive
species are nothing new to the Yuma vegetable industry. In fact, in the past 30
years a number of exotic insect pests have become established in Yuma beginning
with the american serpentine leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii . As some may recall,
damaging levels of this pest were first found infesting lettuce in 1987. A section
18 was obtained two years later for Agri-Mek and the problem soon subsided. That
was followed by the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci-biotype B in 1991-1992.
Of course, the Section 18 registration of Admire, and subsequent registrations of
a variety of new chemistries (IGRs) resulted in area-wide suppression of whitefly
populations and since have allowed the industry to effectively manage the pest.
Then a few years later (1999) the lettuce aphid showed up in the Yuma Valley, a
transplant from Europe, where it had first been found in Salinas the previous year.
Along with it came the foxglove aphid which was not previously thought to occur
in Arizona. Both aphid species are found sporadically infesting lettuce throughout
the area every season. With the registration of Movento (2008) growers can now effectively
manage these aphids in leafy vegetables. Finally in the past few years we’ve had
two important invasive species invade the desert. The first was a whitefly-transmitted
virus, cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV), on melon crops in 2006,
and more recently, the bagrada bug on cole crops in 2010. Both crept into the desert
unexpectedly and are causing economic losses to our local vegetable industry. Hopefully,
as we continue to learn more about these 2 important pests, cost-effective management
programs will be developed. So, I encourage you to attend the
Invasive Species Workshop on the 24th and learn about a couple of potential
invaders.
Winged Lactucae Aphid
Click picture to listen to John’s update To contact John Palumbo go to: jpalumbo@ag.arizona.edu |
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For questions or comments on any of the topics please contact Marco Pena at the Yuma Agricultural Center.
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