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The Crapemyrtle Pest Management Working Group, in collaboration with the Southern IPM Center, is conducting a survey to identify key priorities for pest management in crapemyrtle production. We invite all those who are knowledgeable on crapemyrtle to participate in the survey. We're seeking input from individuals with experience in crapemyrtle. Your knowledge is highly regarded, and your perspectives are of great value to us. To contribute, please click on the link below to access and complete the questionnaire. The survey will take just about ten minutes of your time. Link to consent form and online survey (or scan the QR code below): https://ncsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a3ED0i52eUBFhXM Participation is voluntary and confidential, and you can exit the survey at any point. Participating in this ...

In recent years, Crapemyrtle Bark Scale (CMBS) has continued to spread to new regions across the United States, including Washington D.C. and Florida. This invasive pest species not only threatens crapemyrtles, but also other important native plant species like American beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.) and Hypericum kalmianum L. (St. Johnswort). As a result, there is an urgent need to better understand the interactions between plants and insects and develop more effective pest management strategies. One of the major challenges in controlling CMBS is the difficulty in precisely characterizing its life cycle and population dynamics. This is due to the limitations of field observation and the small size of the early nymphal stages of the insect. However, recent research has made significant ...

Our CMBS economics team (authors: Dr. Pulkit Marwah, Dr. Yu Yvette Zhang, and Dr. Mengmeng Gu) presented research results on the ‘Influence of COVID-19 on Consumer Purchasing Decision for Gardening Products’ at the 2022 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting (Anaheim, CA; July 31-August 2). Here is a brief research overview! The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in numerous ways, including quality of life, and political, environmental, and economic sustainable development. The pandemic also has an impact on consumers, forcing businesses to alter their business operations and adapt to the new normal. Therefore, understanding and researching changes in consumer preferences and shopping patterns, for plants and gardening products/services, due to COVID-19 and its associated factors is critical and ...

If you reside in Florida, look out for crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; fig 1) next time you wander the landscape! Figure 1 The black sooty mold coating the layers of white and grey scale, common symptoms of crapemyrtle bark scale infestation. [Photo by Gary Knox] Florida is one of the leading states in environmental horticulture plant products (Khachatryan and Hodges, 2012), and crapemyrtle is widely utilized as woody ornamentals throughout Florida (Kalaman, 2021). After avoiding CMBS for one and half decades, unfortunately, CMBS has finally found its way to Florida (Fig 2). In 2021, a Florida homeowner in Pace, Florida (Santa Rosa County) reported an unusual insect infestation on crapemyrtle, which was later confirmed as caused by CMBS via molecular ...

Crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae), an invasive sap-sucking hemipteran, has spread across 16 U.S. states. Infestation of CMBS negatively impacts the flowering and reduces the aesthetic quality of crapemyrtles. The widespread use of soil-applied neonicotinoid insecticides to suppress the CMBS infestation may be hazardous to pollinators and other beneficial insects. Natural enemies of CMBS are important agents for developing integrated environmentally friendly management strategies. This study evaluated the performance of larval green lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris) as a biocontrol agent of CMBS. Predatory behavior of the larval C. rufilabris upon CMBS was documented under a stereomicroscope using infested crapemyrtle samples collected from different locations in College Station, TX (Figure 1). Figure 1. Observations of Chrysoperla rufilabris were reported at different ...

The latest CMBS research work, led by Dr. Bin Wu, has made it to the cover of Insects journal! This study established a novel real-time diagnostic tool for quick crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS) host evaluation. Canonical host range confirmation of invasive hemipterans relies on the evaluation of plant susceptibility through greenhouse or field trials, which are inefficient and time-consuming. The researchers developed an alternative technology to complement conventional host confirmation methods. Using electrical penetration graph (EPG)-based technology, the research team monitored the CMBS invisible stylet-tip position when the insect was feeding on different plant tissues. The occurrences of stylet-tip in the phloem phase and xylem phase offered conclusive evidence for host plant evaluation. Moreover, CMBS typical feeding behaviors measured by ...

Effective on July 1, 2022, the project lead of the crapemyrtle bark scale team, Dr. Mengmeng Gu, has started her new role as the department head of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Colorado State University. Dr. Gu will bring her experience in both horticulture and landscape design to her new leadership role, with a focus on sustainability and a career-long commitment to teaching, research, and outreach, the three pillars of the land-grant mission. For more information, please visit: https://agsci.source.colostate.edu/ornamental-horticulturalist-and-extension-specialist-tapped-as-next-department-of-horticulture-and-landscape-architecture-head/ Congratulations, Dr. Gu! ...

Researchers from Penn State University and USDA, Dr. Michael J. Skvarla and Dr. Scott A. Schneider, recently published a report confirming a new infestation of crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS) in Pennsylvania. This report furthered the CMBS distribution to the northeastern part of the United States, bringing the total number of states with CMBS infestations to 18, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington (EDDMapS, 2022) and Pennsylvania.According to the report, CMBS was found on a mature crapemyrtle tree in Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsbury Township (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b), one of the warmest regions of Pennsylvania. The insect samples were collected and identified as CMBS ...

Our Crapemyrtle Bark Scale Team has successfully conducted a Q&A session on February 28, 2022 in response to recent CMBS reports. Recording of the Q&A session is available here! The team appreciates Dr. Emily Mueller and Dr. Kasey Yturralde for helping to organize this Q&A session and sending us the questions. Below is the list of timestamps and related questions available in the video. 0:15 Introduction of the team (Dr. Mengmeng Gu, Dr. Erfan Vafaie, Laura Miller, Dr. Yvette Zhang, Dr. Yan Chen, Dr. David Held, and Dr. Hongmin Qin) 5:08 Q1. What are the effects of CMBS? 12:22 Q2. How far do they move? 27:45 Q3: How close do we need to keep trees spaced apart? For example, if ...

A new peer-review manuscript (authored by Dr. Pulkit Marwah, Dr. Yu Yvette Zhang, and Dr. Mengmeng Gu) on the impacts of the crapemyrtle bark scale on consumers and the horticulture industry is now available online. Here is the abstract! Abstract: In this study, we conducted a nationwide online survey, including discrete choice scenarios, to understand consumers’ purchasing behavior for flowering trees and shrubs for home landscapes in the US. In particular, we studied crapemyrtle, which is the most popular summer flowering tree in the US. This research evaluates the change in consumer willingness to pay for crapemyrtle plants due to pest infestation damage. Our study showed that the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for crapemyrtles will decrease, due to the ...