Phytoparasitica (1997) 25, 155-156
Z. Mendel, Fabienne Assael, S. Zeidan and A. Zehavi (1997)
Biological control of the pine monophlebid Palaeococcus fuscipennis in Israel: Present status
Phytoparasitica 25 (2), 155-156
10th Conference of the Entomological Society of Israel, February 11, 1997, Bet Dagan, Israel, lecture
Abstract: The pine monophlebid Palaeococcus fuscipennis Burm., an infrequent pest in pine forests in several Mediterranean and Central European countries, was discovered in Israel in 1990 in a single pine stand in the 'Eeron Valley (northern Samaria). Between the time of its detection and the summer of 1996, the scale insect had spread to the NE and NW in pine plantations on both sides of the valley, covering an area of 200 km2, infesting 1,300 ha of forest of Pinus brutia, P. halepensis, P. pinea and P. canariensis. Infested trees were heavily covered with honeydew, with the stems and part of the crowns displaying a thick layer of sooty mold. Association of the scale with aphidophagous arthropods, including large populations of the coccinellid Rodolia cardinalis Muls., neither decreased its population nor reduced its spread to new plantations. In 1994 two specific enemies of P. fuscipennis, the coccinellid Novius cruentatus Muls. and the parasitic fly Cryptochetum jorgepastori Cadahia, were introduced from Huelva in southern Spain and released at a single recreation site in the 'Eeron Valley. In the summer of 1996 both enemies were detected throughout most of the range of the scale; a marked decrease in the pest population density and sooty mold cover was observed at the site where the introduction had taken place.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Zvi Mendel
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution
