Systemically Applied Insecticides for Treatment of Erythrina Gall Wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) (original) (raw)

2009, Arboriculture and Urban Forestry

The erythrina gall wasp (EGW), believed native to Africa, is a recently described species and now serious invasive pest of Erythrina (coral trees) in tropical and subtropical locales. Erythrina are favored ornamental and landscape trees, as well as na- tive members of threatened ecosystems. The EGW is a tiny, highly mobile, highly invasive wasp that deforms (galls) host trees causing severe defoliation and tree death. The first detection of EGW in the United States was in Oahu, Hawaii in April 2005. It quickly spread through the Hawaiian island chain (U.S.) killing ornamental and native Erythrina in as little as two years. At risk are endemic populations of Erythrina as well as ornamental landscape species in the same genus, the latter of which have already been killed and removed from Oahu at a cost of more than USD $1 million. Because EGW are so small and spread so quickly, host injury is usually detected before adult wasps are observed, making prophylactic treatments less likely ...

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