ARS-UC Agreement Seeks Potato Psyllid Control

WAPATO, Washington, US — The US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has signed a cooperative agreement with the University of California (UC) at Riverside aimed at developing a chemical attractant to manage the potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli). When feeding on potatoes, the potato psyllid transfers the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, infecting the plant with zebra chip disease. Due to the disease, which causes dark stripes in cut potatoes, the US and Mexican potato industries have lost millions of dollars. New Zealand potatoes have also suffered from the disease.

Current control methods include spraying insecticide to prevent psyllid outbreaks, halting transmission of the disease.Because of the difficulty in determining psyllid migration patterns and the lack of a psyllid-specific monitoring tool, ill-timed spraying can increse pesticide resistance in the psyllid and damage beneficial insects. Multiple sprays also raise production costs.

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The six-month cooperative agreement between UC and ARS scientists is intended to “isolate, identify, synthesize and test” the specific chemicals produced by females to attract mates, says ARS. The synthesis of these attractants raises the possibility for the development of a psyllid-specific monitoring tool. Attractant-laced traps to capture male psyllids could help growers determine when the insects are colonizing fields and better schedule insecticide spraying.

 

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