Beneficial Bugs With a Big Appetite for Citrus Psyllids

Researchers with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) have found three commercially available insect species that devour the eggs of the Asian citrus psyllid, the notorious pest responsible for spreading Huanglongbing (HLB), the disease that has severely damaged the state’s citrus groves for two decades.

These natural predators could become an important new line of defense in a fight that has stretched on for years and cost billions. This is particularly true for organic growers who have limited options to control the psyllid, says Xavier Martini, a UF/IFAS Associate Professor of entomology.

In the past, scientists have tested the ability of predatory bugs to eat nymph and adult psyllids. This was the first experiment on psyllid eggs, Martini says.

Romain Exilien, a post-doctoral researcher at the North Florida Research and Education Center, led the new study, supported with funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The research shows three of the four predatory bugs eat psyllid eggs at high rates. Click here to read the study published in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

Scientists studied the minute pirate bug, the green lacewing larva, a ladybeetle named mealybug destroyer and the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii. All except A. swirskii significantly reduced the egg numbers.

Over two days, minute pirate bugs consumed 67 eggs, whereas lacewing larvae ate 111 and mealybug destroyer 153. At 93 and 97%, green lacewing and mealybug destroyer ate the most eggs.

Jawwad Qureshi, an Associate Professor of entomology at the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center and a co-author on the current study, says growers will appreciate these findings.

“These findings indicate that targeting Asian citrus psyllid eggs with lacewings or mealybug destroyers may substantially enhance sustainable psyllid management and support long-term HLB mitigation in citrus groves.”

For more, read the full article at blogs.ifas.ufl.edu.