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ASTM: Standards for Natural Multi-Cellular Biological Control Organisms
NBCI International Program: Pink Hibiscus Mealybug Biological Control
Standards for Natural Multi-Cellular
Biological Control Organisms
W. Conshohocken, PA, 30 July 1998 - An organizational meeting to formalize a new ASTM standards development activity on Natural Multi-Cellular Biological Control Organisms was held on June 12, 1998 in Berkeley, Calif., in conjunction with the California Conference on Biological Control. This new activity has been established as a subcommittee within ASTM standards-writing Committee E-35 on Pesticides.
Subcommittee E35.30 on Natural Multi-Cellular (Metazoan) Biological Control Organisms plans to develop standard definitions, classifications, appropriate test methods, and recommended practices for quality, handling, distribution, and use of natural multi-cellular biological control organisms. The activities will be coordinated with related committees in ASTM and with other professional and government organizations.
Subcommittee members have identified over 10 species for standardization and task groups have been formed to begin developing draft standards for Trichogramma, Persimilis, and Crypts.
The next meeting for this activity will be held in Phoenix, Ariz., on October 3, 1998, in conjunction with the ANBP Conference. All interested parties are encouraged to participate in this activity. Please contact Cathryna Blackwell, ASTM (610/832-9737; e-mail: cblackwell@astm.org) if you would like additional information.
Committee E-35 is one of 130 ASTM technical standards-writing committees. Organized in 1898 , ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) is one of the largest voluntary standards development systems in the world.
ASTM Home Page: http://www.astm.org
Source: ASTM News Release #5335
Pink Hibiscus Mealybug
Biological Control
In August 1997, NBCI launched into a new area of biological control development when Dr. Dale E. Meyerdirk joined the Institute and linked his international biological control program with existing NBCI initiatives.
Currently, NBCI's primary international program covers the biological control of the pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM) Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) in the Caribbean. Dale Meyerdirk is joined in the PHM biological control effort by Dr. Edward F. Gersabeck, APHIS, International Service (IS).
PHM is a serious pest of agriculture and commerce. Though hibiscus and soursop are the most common hosts for this pest, PHM affects a very wide range of plants and is known to affect over 200 genera in about 75 plant families; including acacia, allamanda, annona, asparagus, bauhinia, beans, begonia, chrysanthemum, citrus, cocoa, coffee, cotton, grapevine, guava, jute, maize, mango, mulberry, okra, palm, peanut, plum, poinsettia, potato, soybean, sugar cane, and teak.
The Caribbean PHM infestation may have originated from Southeast Asia, which appears to be its native origin. By the early 1900's it made its way south to India and west to Egypt. In 1984, PHM was found in Hawaii but has been kept in check through biological control. The first identified occurrence of PHM in the Caribbean was in Grenada in 1994. Since then, it has spread rapidly through the region infesting 18 islands by early 1998, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and south through much of the Caribbean to the coast of Guyana in South America.
PHM spreads variously; including minute eggs which are dispersed in wind, transportation by man and animals, and insect mobility at various life stages. It forms colonies on host plants and may grow to large masses, appearing waxy white in color. While feeding, PHM injects toxic saliva into plants, resulting in deformities in leaf and shoot growth which may lead to plant death. Black sooty mold may also develop on heavily invested plants resulting from the PHM's honey-dew secretions.
APHIS initiated its biological control program against PHM in August 1996 by releasing the parasite Anagyrus kamali in St. Kitts. Impacts of A. kamali against PHM have been rapid. After 1½ years of activity, PHM populations in St. Kitts were reduced by over 90%. In addition to A. kamali, Gyranusoidea indica a primary parasite from Egypt has been released and is presently being evaluated. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, a predaceous coccinellid beetle, also called the "mealybug destroyer", is commercially available and is used as a short term solution, like a biopesticide. It can eat between 3,000 and 5,000 PHM in its lifetime! The A. kamali are self perpetuating. Once established, it is able to sustain their populations and continue to keep PHM well below levels of economic damage.
By June 1997, APHIS PHM biological control technology was transferred to St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Through a tri-lateral cooperative venture between APHIS, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the USVI Department of Agriculture, PHM biological control efforts in the USVI are well under way. A new insectary has recently been established on St. Thomas where natural enemies of PHM are mass produced for release on the islands.
ARS is continuing its efforts to identify PHM natural enemies with exploration ongoing in Egypt, Pakistan, India, select nations in western Africa, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Canary Islands, and Australia. Over 20 parasites and over 40 predators of PHM are currently known worldwide.
Visit the APHIS home page (PHM subject area) for additional information on the PHM and an updated program status report:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/mealybug.html
Free, written material on the PHM is also available through the "NBCI Store". See NBCI's home page for access to this service.
For additional information on NBCI's International program or the PHM biological control program, contact:
Dr. Dale E. Meyerdirk
USDA, APHIS, PPQ, NBCI
International Program
4700 River Road, Unit 135
Riverdale, MD 20737
Ph: (301) 734-5667
Fx: (301) 734-8192
E-mail: Dale.E.Meyerdik@usda.gov
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