CLASSICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER

• Author(s): Jones, Walker; Logarzo, Guillermo; McKamey, Stuart; Triapitsyn, Serguei; Wendel, Lloyd;
• Abstract: The leafhopper tribe Proconiini composes the sharpshooters. There are 54 described genera and hundreds of species within this specific taxonomic group (Young, 1968). All are confined to the New World. The genus Homalodisca is found from the United States to Brazil and Argentina. Outside California, the glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Homalodisca coagulata, is known to occur from the southeastern and south central United States into northeastern Mexico. The exact limits of its range are known primarily through label data in insect collections. A collaborative program to collect natural enemies from its area of origin in the United States and Mexico has been underway since at least 1999, initiated by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and in cooperation with the University of California, Riverside, USDA-APHIS, and USDA-ARS and Mexico. These efforts have led to the successful collection and release in California of a number of native parasitoids of the GWSS. In south Texas, GWSS is rare. A survey of local egg parasitoids during the past two years has demonstrated that the eggs are heavily attacked by Gonatocerus triguttatus throughout the sharpshooters breeding season and appears most responsible for the low population levels of GWSS in the area. This parasitoid was only recently identified from GWSS (Triapitsyn and Phillips, 2000). No nymphal parasitoids were detected. It is not known if parasitoids from other sharpshooter genera and species will attack GWSS eggs. However, many genera within the Proconiini are very closely related to Homalodisca and possess similar habits. Homalodisca is among at least 10 leafhopper species that transmit citrus variegated chlorosis in South America. It is felt that parasitoids of eggs, and possibly other stages of sharpshooters from similar climate and habitat types from South America, may possess the ability to also attack GWSS because (1) they can be collected from areas that allow them to be pre-adapted to California climate conditions, and (2) they may be able to search for and successfully attack GWSS eggs in micro-habitats such as citrus. Thus, contacts were made and a plan was formulated to explore for and collect sharpshooter parasitoids from South America and import them into quarantine for identification and evaluation for their potential against GWSS. Additionally, a project was initiated to conduct a survey of insect collections to determine the historical range of the GWSS.
• Publication Date: Dec 2001
• Journal: 2001 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium