Parasitoid wasp controls blue gum psyllid

Abstract

The blue gum psyllid was first discovered in North America in Monterey County in January 1991. Since then it has quickly spread throughout the California coastal area and has' became a major pest on Eucalyptus pulverulenta in commercial foli- age plantations. Large amounts of pesticides have been used to control the psyllid in these plan- tations. A primary parasitoid wasp, Psyllaephagus pilosus ffoyes (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), was found in Aus- tralia and New Zealand and re- leased at eight sites in California in spring/summer 1993. As a re- sult, psyllid populations declined somewhat at most sites in 1993, and in 1994 psyllids were no longer a problem. The parasitoid has spread rapidly to other coastal areas.