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FLORIDA RED SCALE, Chrysomphalus aonidum (L.) [= ficus Ashmead]--Diaspididae

(Contacts)

This polyphagous scale from the Orient, invaded tropical and subtropical areas of North, Central and South America, the Mediterranean, North and South Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Islands. It has been reported particularly damaging to citrus in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Brazil, Mexico, Texas and Florida (Quayle 1938, Bodenheimer 1951, Ebeling 1959, Kennett et al. 1999).

The introduction of natural enemies began in Israel in 1945-1947 with Comperiella bifasciata from California. Although this introduction failed, further efforts in 1956-1957 resulted in the establishment of two parasitoids, Aphytis holoxanthus (<150 released) and Pteroptrix (= Casca) smithi (Compere) (ca. 120 released) from Hong Kong (Rivnay 1968). Interestingly, P. smithi was not recovered in the field until 1960. Complete biological control resulted within 2-3 years along coastal Israel, primarily because of the rapid natural dispersal of A. holoxanthus (Rivnay 1968, DeBach et al. 1971). Pteroptrix smithi later dispersed along the coastal plain, and although its activity was thought to be complementary to A. holoxanthus, later studies by Steinberg et al. (1986) showed it to be a dominant species. This project was so successful that it stimulated a sound integrated control program in citrus in Israel (Harpaz & Rosen 1971).

Aphytis holoxanthus was then established in Mexico, Florida, South Africa, Australia and Texas, where complete biological control was also achieved (Maltby et al. 1968, Selhime et al. 1969, Cilliers 1971, Smith 1978b, Annecke & Moran 1982, Dean 1982). Additional information pertaining to this project and biologies of hosts and natural enemies may be found in the following (Dean 1955, Dean & Bailey 1960, Cohen & Nadel 1962, Clancy et al. 1963, Broodryk 1964, Flanders 1964, 1966; Quednau 1964, Rosen 1965, 1967; Muma & Selhime 1967, Bedford 1968, Jimenez-Jimenez 1968).

REFERENCES: [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL Library ]

Annecke, D. P. & V. C. Moran. 1982. Insects and Mites of cultivated plants in South Africa. Butterworth & Co., South Africa. 383 p.

Bedford, E. C. G. 1968. The biological control of red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Mask.), on citrus on South Africa. Ent. Soc. So. Africa J. 31: 1-15.

Bodenheimer, F. S. 1951. Citrus Entomology in the Middle East. W. Junk, Publ., The Hague. 663 p.

Broodryk, S. W. 1964. Biological control of circular purple scale. So. Africa Citrus J. 372: 7, 9, 11.

Cilliers, C. J. 1971. Observations on circular purple scale Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linn.), and two introduced parasites in Western Transvaal citrus orchards. Entomophaga 16: 269-84.

Clancy, D. W., A. G. Selhime & M. H. Muma. 1963. Establishment of Aphytis holoxanthus as a parasite of Florida red scale in Florida. J. Econ. Ent. 56: 603-05.

Cohen, I. & D. Nadel. 1962. The Institute of Biological Control of Citrus Pests. Citrus Market. Bd. Israel, Agrotech. Div. 24 p.

Dean, H. A. 1955. Factors affecting biological control of scale insects on citrus. J. Econ. Ent. 48: 444-47.

Dean, H. A. 1982. Reduced pest status of the Florida red scale on Texas citrus associated with Aphytis holoxanthus. J. Econ. Ent. 75:

147-49.

Dean, H. A. & J. C. Bailey. 1960. Introduction of beneficial insects for the control of citrus scale insects and mites. Rio Grande Val. Hort. Soc. J. 14: 40-6.

DeBach, P. 1971. Fortuitous biological control from ecesis of natural enemies. In: Entomological Essays to Commemorate the Retirement of Professor K. Yasumatsu. Hokuryukan Publ. Co., Tokyo. 389 p.

Ebeling, W. 1959. Subtropical Fruit Pests. Univ. Calif. Div. Agric. Sci. 436 p.

Flanders, S. E. 1964. Some biological control aspects of taxonomy exemplified by the genus Aphytis (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Canad. Ent. 96: 888-93.

Flanders, S. E. 1966. Unique biological aspects of the genus Casca and a description of a new species. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 59: 79-82.

Harpaz, I. & D. Rosen. 1971. Development of integrated control programs for crop pests in Israel. In: C. B. Huffaker (ed.), Biological Control. Chapter 20. Plenum Press, New York, London.

Jimenez-Jimenez, E. 1968. Comportamiento de Aphytis holoxanthus DeBach en México. Fitofilo 20: 42-8.

Kennett, C. E., J. A. McMurtry & J. W. Beardsley. 1999. Biological control in subtropical and tropical crops. In: Bellows, T. S. & T. W. Fisher (eds.), Handbook of Biological Control: Principles and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, New York. 1046 p

Maltby, W. L., E. Jimenez Jimenez & P. DeBach. 1968. Biological control of armored scale insects in Mexico. J. Econ. Ent. 61: 1086-88.

Muma, M. H. & A. G. Selhime. 1967. Aphytis Howard (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) on Florida citrus. Fla. State Hort. Soc. Proc. (1966) 79: 86-91.

Quayle, H. J. 1938. Insects of Citrus and Other Subtropical Fruits. Comstock Publishing Co., Ithaca, New York. 583 p.

Quednau, F. W. 1964. A contribution on the genus Aphytis Howard in South Africa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). Ent. Soc. So. Africa J. 27: 86-116.

Rivnay, E. 1968. Biological control of pests in Israel (a review 1905-1965). Israel J. Ent. 3: 1-156.

Rosen, D. 1965. The hymenopterous parasites of citrus armored scales in Israel (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 58: 388-96.

Rosen, D. 1967. Biological and integrated control of citrus pests in Israel. J. Econ. Ent. 60: 1422-27.

Selhime, A. G., M. H. Muma, W. A. Simanton & C. W. McCoy. 1969. Control of Florida red scale in Florida with the parasite Aphytis holoxanthus. J. Econ. Ent. 62: 954-55.

Smith, D. 1978b. Biological control of scale insects on citrus in southeastern Queensland. II. Control of circular black scale Chrysomphalus ficus Ashmead, by the introduced parasite, Aphytis holoxanthus DeBach. J. Aust. Ent. Soc. 73: 373-77.

Steinberg, S., H. Podoler & D. Rosen. 1986. Biological control of the Florida red scale, Chrysomphalus aonidum (L.) in Israel by two parasite species: Current status in the coastal plain. Phytoparasitica 14: 199-204.