DPI's Bureau of Entomology, Nematology and Plant Pathology (the botany section is included in this bureau) produces TRI-OLOGY six times a year, covering two months of activity in each issue. The report includes detection activities from nursery plant inspections, routine and emergency program surveys, and requests for identification of plants and pests from the public. Samples are also occasionally sent from other states or countries for identification or diagnosis.
Section Reports
Our Mission…getting it done
The mission of the Division of Plant Industry (DPI) is to protect Florida's native and commercially grown plants and the State's apiary industry from harmful pests and diseases. Perhaps you'd be interested how we use biological control techniques to help carry out our mission.
Biocontrol helps growers reduce reliance on chemical controls, while still growing the high-quality produce for which Florida is famous. Biocontrol is the use of parasites, predators and pathogens for the control or stabilization of pest populations and is an effective, environmentally-safe strategy for managing agricultural and urban pests. We conduct several ongoing programs that rear insects which are natural enemies of many pest insects.
The Bureau of Methods Development and Biological Control develops and implements new ideas, techniques and methods for the survey, detection, control and eradication of plant pests. It also oversees the Biological Control Rearing Facility (BCRF) in Gainesville. This facility is a 15,000-square foot building dedicated to the mass-rearing of various natural enemies and their hosts for research and release. The bureau is also responsible for two biocontrol mass-rearing facilities located in Ft. Pierce and Dundee. Gainesville's DPI complex houses mass-rearing facilities which produce Caribbean fruit flies and Diaprepes root weevils for research, along with many biocontrol insects for a large number of pests and weeds, including the imported fire ant, Asian citrus psyllid, pink hibiscus mealybug, citrus leaf miner, Asian cycad scale and tropical soda apple.
DPI also houses the Florida Accelerator Services & Technology (FAST) facility, an electron-beam linear accelerator, which treats many agricultural commodities and is used in the cactus moth sterile insect technique (SIT) program. Millions of cactus moths are reared at the BCRF, then sterilized in FAST before being released all along the Gulf coast in an effort to stop the westward expansion of this very damaging pest. The Sterile Insect Release Facility (SIRF) in Sarasota is a cooperative program between FDACS-DPI and USDA-APHIS which produces millions of sterile Mediterranean fruit flies for weekly release in high-risk areas throughout the state.
We welcome your suggestions for improvement of TRI-OLOGY. Please feel free to contact me or Dr. Patti Anderson with your comments.
Dr. Wayne N. Dixon, editor
Assistant Director, DPI
Highlights
Following are a few of the notable entries from this volume of TRI-OLOGY. These entries are reports of interesting plants or unusual pests, some of which may be problematic. See Section Reports for complete information.
Cissus verticillata (possum grape, princess vine) foliage
Photograph courtesy of TopTropicals
Cissus verticillata (L.) Nicolson & C.E. Jarvis (seasonvine, possum grape, princess vine), a native vine that is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental, but can also become an aggressive intruder given good growing conditions in South Florida. This species was submitted four times for identification in May, with additional submission of photographs in later months. Although anecdotal, this activity might suggest an increased presence or popularity of the species.
Beta vulgaris (Swiss chard) infected with Meloidogyne incognita.
Photograph courtesy of Mariana P. Beckman and Janete A. Brito, DPI
Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949, also known as the southern root-knot nematode, causes severe damage to many crops in temperate and tropical areas of the world as well as in greenhouse operations. In Florida, this nematode has been reported parasitizing agronomic and vegetable crops, ornamental plants and weeds.
Ambrosiodmus minor, a Western Hemisphere record. This is an Asian scolytid beetle, not recorded previously from the Western Hemisphere. The native range is southern and southeastern Asia. Its pest potential is unknown, but probably minimal.
Euwallacea interjectus, a Western Hemisphere record. This is an Asian scolytid beetle, not recorded previously from the Western Hemisphere. The native range is southern and southeastern Asia. Its pest potential is unknown, but probably minimal.
Aleuroplatus cococolus, a Continental USA record. Two samples of this whitefly were collected from Coccoloba diversifolia in a parking-lot in Miami-Dade County. This species probably is native to the Caribbean or Central America, where it is known from a wide diversity of plant species, some of which are economically important fruit species, although this whitefly does not appear to be an economic pest.
Holoplagia guamensis, a Continental USA record. This species, a minute black scavenger fly, is not a plant pest. This is the first record for the Nearctic region. It is recorded previously from the South Pacific, Africa and Central America.
Phenacoccus multicerarii, a Continental USA record. This mealybug species has subsequently been identified from two nurseries. The second, in Apopka, was on fern material (Polystichum sp.) acquired from the Jacksonville nursery where the Continental record was discovered. In the Jacksonville nursery, it was present in high numbers with all life stages present.
Amitus granulosus, a State record. This species is a parasitoid of Tetraleurodes perileucae. It is known previously only from Texas. The genus Amitis is known only to parasitize whiteflies.
Chrysobothris acutipennis, a State record. This species is a metallic wood-boring beetle or jewel beetle (Buprestidae). It is native from central Texas to South America. Larvae have been found in Texas ebony, Pithecellobium flexicaule.
Hahncappsia neomarculenta, a State record. This crambid snout moth was found in a Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey pheromone trap for light brown apple moth in Leon County. Subsequent examination of similar LBAM traps yielded numerous records as far south as De Soto and St. Lucie counties. The larval hosts are not known, and it is not expected to be of economic importance.
Neorhegmoclemina bisaccata, a State record. This species, a minute black scavenger fly, is not a plant pest. This species has been reported previously from New York.
Tessaropa tenuipes, a State record. This species is a longhorned wood-boring beetle (Cerambycidae). It is native to the central and eastern United States, but heretofore has never been collected in Florida. It is found in small dead branches of hardwoods (hickory, oak, walnut, beech) and is uncommon.
Melanaphis sorini
Photograph courtesy of Lyle J. Buss, University of Florida
Melanaphis sorini, a State record for Georgia. This Asian aphid species was discovered in Florida in 1996. The taxonomy of the genus was not in order, so this species did not have a valid name. Thus, the species was described from Florida and Asian specimens.
Uromyces transversalis (gladiolus rust) was reported in Florida for the first time this year. The first detection of Uromyces transversalis in the United States was made on Gladiolus x hortulanus (garden gladiolus) in Manatee County, Florida, in April 2006.
Acknowledgements:
The editors would like to acknowledge the work of all those who contributed information and explanations by providing data, photographs or text and by carefully reading early drafts. We also thank Scott Weinberg for his skillful use of web authoring tools to produce this report.
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry
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