Tomato Psyllids Cropping Up in Southern California

摘要

Tomato psyllids are spreading across the country, devastating crops in Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Ontario, Canada. In Baja, Mexico, growers lost more than 85 percent of their fresh market tomatoes in 2001. California populations originated from Mexico, but are now surviving year-round in San Diego, Orange and Ventura counties. Entomologists John Trumble, and Richard Stouthamer from the University of California, Riverside, studied the annual pattern of immigration of tomato psyllids into California tomato production areas using visual surveys and molecular techniques. Their results indicate how many psyllids it takes to cause crop damage and can help to estimate when and how much insecticide to use to control them.