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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Psyllids”
By Yiannis Ampatzidis Citrus growers face issues from an increasing number of pests and diseases. Rapid and accurate tools for early pest and disease detection are needed to improve precision and timely management. Almost all agrochemicals (e.g., pesticides) applied in specialty crop production are made uniformly with conventional spraying equipment, despite the fact that pathogen distribution is typically patchy. Uniform …
In the early days of HLB in Florida, virtually all researchers and growers agreed that nothing was more important than controlling HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids. But once HLB had spread to every grove (become endemic), many growers began questioning whether continued psyllid control was necessary. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) entomologist Lukasz Stelinski tackled that …
Precision agriculture engineer Yiannis Ampatzidis sees a day when citrus farmers use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect the pin-sized insects that can infect the fruit’s trees with the deadly greening disease. That day could come in the near future, because Ampatzidis and his research team are starting to perfect a system to detect the potentially deadly Asian citrus psyllid. Citrus …
Researchers found use of kaolin particle film on trees reduced populations of HLB-spreading psyllids and delayed HLB infection. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Christopher Vincent and graduate student Juanpablo Salvatierra Miranda report on their findings. Vincent says both white kaolin and red kaolin applications “had very low psyllid numbers” compared to a foliar insecticide treatment …
Controlling HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids along grove borders can be part of a cost-efficient psyllid control program, says University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist Lukasz Stelinski. “Psyllids are found in borders in much greater frequencies than any other place within the grove,” Stelinski says. “This is a place that they congregate … Anything that helps protect …
Several research projects continue at University of California Riverside to evaluate strategies for better detection of Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Monique Rivera, assistant cooperative Extension specialist, is looking into something referred to as the ‘edge effect’ and how it pertains to ACP control. “The ‘edge effect’ is basically an ecological term that we’re using in the context of Asian citrus …
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) entomologist Lukasz Stelinski suggested ways growers can cut psyllid control costs. He summarized key points he made in a talk at a Jan. 8 Citrus Insect Management Workshop at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. Stelinski credited the late UF/IFAS entomologist Phil Stansly for determining that psyllid …
Citrus growers can learn more about managing Asian citrus psyllids and other pests in a workshop Jan. 8 at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC). The psyllid can transmit the bacteria associated with greening disease to citrus trees and has already caused severe damage to Florida’s multi-billion-dollar-a-year citrus industry. …
Florida citrus growers have begun taking notice of kaolin clay, a powdery white compound, because it can cause Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) to “not take notice” of their groves. Long used to protect other fruit and vegetable crops, kaolin can also conceal citrus trees from hungry psyllids by confusing their visual sensory system, said Michael Rogers, director of the Citrus …
Numerous researchers have collaborated on an attract-and-kill device that will hopefully eliminate psyllids in confined spaces, such as nurseries and citrus under protective screen (CUPS). University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) entomologist Lukasz Stelinski reports on a presentation he made Oct. 25 at a citrus nursery workshop in Lake Alfred. Stelinski says researchers with UF/IFAS and …
As a girl in her garage in Palm Bay, Florida, Lauren Diepenbrock, already a budding scientist, peered through the lens of her microscope and marveled at the magnification. “As a kid, I played in the woods and brought back all sorts of ‘finds,’ including a snake skeleton, none of which my mom allowed in the house,” said Diepenbrock, an assistant …
Many growers in recent years have used bactericides in an effort to reduce HLB infection in their groves. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski reports on use of bactericides to reduce both the bacteria that causes HLB and the psyllids that spread it. In greenhouse studies, she reports, bactericides appeared to offer “some reduction” …
Less than a month before his death, the late Phil Stansly offered Citrus Expo attendees advice for coping with psyllid resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides. Stansly was a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist based at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. He was among those credited with organizing Florida’s first psyllid- and HLB-fighting citrus health …
For several years after HLB was detected in Florida in 2005, most citrus growers and researchers agreed that it was essential to spray aggressively for the Asian citrus psyllids that spread the disease. In recent years, however, many growers have questioned whether it still makes sense to spray for psyllids when 100 percent of groves are infected, as is the …
Fighting plant disease with jet blast sprays is standard practice for citrus growers. But, to spray a fungus to control a single insect that carries a disease-causing pathogen is uncommon. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability researchers have begun to test an insect-killing fungus applied with horticultural oil …
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Lukasz Stelinski talks about the insecticide resistance that HLB-spreading psyllids develop and how to manage it. “There is insecticide resistance in Florida for Asian citrus psyllids,” Stelinski says. “It’s a phenomenon that occurs statewide, but in isolated areas.” “We actually have the tools and the knowledge to practice insecticide resistance …
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Christopher Vincent says kaolin clay outperforms foliar insecticides for management of HLB-spreading psyllids at times when kaolin’s use is practical. His presentation on the topic followed the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) meeting on May 22 at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. The presentation, part …
Jim Snively, vice president of grove operations at Southern Gardens Citrus, discusses his company’s management of HLB and the psyllids that spread it. He summarizes a presentation he made at the International Citrus Business Conference in March. “By reducing stress, the trees can deal with disease much better,” Snively says. “We’re doing this through continuous-type feeding or frequent feeding with …
Phil Stansly, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist, discusses alternatives to imidacloprid for helping to control HLB-spreading Asian citrus psyllids (ACP). “Imidacloprid of course is typical of the neonicotinoids that we’ve been using as soil applications to protect young trees,” Stansly says. “We’ve seen and the growers have seen, too, that soil applications of systemic insecticides …
Mike Irey of Southern Gardens Citrus explains why he thinks “flipping” the standard focus of psyllid control from young trees to mature trees can actually help young trees grow stronger in the face of HLB. Irey, director of research and business development, spoke at the recent International Citrus Business Conference in Daytona Beach. Irey explains that HLB is spread two …
