Summary of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale Hosts
Crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae) has long been reported with a fairly wide host range. Online insect database has accumulated a good amount of host information for CMBS. For example, ScaleNet reported over 20 plant species from 15 families as CMBS hosts, including boxwood (Buxus microphylla), Chinese hackberry (Celtis sinensis), Axlewood (Anogeissus latifolia), Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki), food wrapper plant (Mallotus japonicus), Dalbergia eremicola, soybean (Glycine max), Kalm’s St. Johnswort (Hypericum kalmianum), American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), giant crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia speciosa), pomegranate (Punica granatum), common fig (Ficus carica), myrtle (Myrtus spp.), border privet (Ligustrum obtusifolium), Japanese Ternstroemia (Ternstroemia japonica), Needlebush (Glochidion puberum), Paradise apple (Malus pumila), Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), Brambles (Rubus spp.) (García Morales M, 2016). Previous reported CMBS hosts were compiled from many literatures that dates to 1907, therefore some of information need to be verified and confirmed. Recently, as the distribution of CMBS continues to…
Texas Plant Protection Conference 1st Place Award
Congratulations to Bin Wu for receiving 1st place prize for Ph.D. poster at the annual Texas Plant Protection Conference held December 8 – 10th (2020). Due to COVID-19, the conference was held virtually this year. The poster was titled “EPG Application in feeding behavior study helps rapidly confirm potential hosts of crapemyrtle bark scale (Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae)”. Traditional methods used to determine host range of a pest can be time consuming and costly, due to the need to rear the pest on the host plant. This study uses electrical penetration graph (EPG) monitoring to track crapemyrtle bark scales’ style penetration in real-time to rapidly determine host plant acceptance. The full poster is available for download below.
Dr. Held New Chair of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Congratulations to our colleague Dr. David Held from the crapemyrtle bark scale team for his promotion to Chair of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University. Congratulations Dr. Held!
Dr. Gary Knox Receives Meadows Award
Dr. Gary Knox is the 2020 recipient of the Sidney B. Meadows Award of Merit from the International Plant Propagators’ Society (IPPS), Southern Region of North America. The Meadows award honors and recognizes outstanding individuals for their contributions to the nursery industry and to plant propagation in the Southern Region of North America. It is the highest honor bestowed upon an IPPS Southern Region member. Gary first became a member of IPPS in 1979 when he was a student at Purdue University. Dr. Knox is now with the University of Florida/IFAS as professor of environmental horticulture, Nursery Crops Extension Specialist, and director of Gardens of the Big Bend at the North Florida Research and Education Center (NFREC) in Quincy. Dr. Knox is heavily involved in research and extension on nursery/landscape issues like pollinator plants, rose rosette disease, crapemyrtle bark scale, and invasive plants. On a more uplifting note, he also…
Feeding preference and host range tests of crapemyrtle bark scale on economically important crops
Crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae) is an exotic pest species that is causing aesthetic and economic damages to crapemyrtles and posing potential threats to other horticultural crops. Although previous studies reported the infestation of CMBS on at least 13 alternative hosts within families of Buxaceae, Cannabaceae, Combretaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lythraceae, Moraceae, Oleaceae, Phyllanthaceae, and Rosaceae in Asia, its potential threats to other documented alternative hosts remain elusive and yet to be confirmed in the United States. Feeding preference trials of CMBS were conducted on forty-nine plant species and cultivars in 2016 and 2019. The infestations of CMBS were confirmed on Malus domestica (apple), Chaenomeles speciosa (flowering quince), Diospyros rhombifolia (diamond-leaf persimmon), Heimia salicifolia (sinicuichi), Lagerstroemia ‘Spiced Plum’ (crapemyrtle), M. angustifolia (southern crabapple), and twelve out of thirty-five pomegranate cultivars. However, the levels of CMBS infestation on these test plant hosts in this study is very low compared to…
Crapemyrtle Bark Scale Honeydew Secretion
Black sooty mold is one of the major issues with heavy crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS; Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae) infestation, which greatly reduces the aesthetic value of host plants. Black sooty mold can be seen not only on crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) but also on alternative hosts infested with CMBS such as American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) and pomegranates (Punica granatum) (Figure 1). Sooty mold is a collective term that comprises of several genera of fungi including Aureobasidium, Antennariella, Cladosporium, Capnodium, Limacinula, and Scorias [1]. These fungi grow on the honeydew secreted by sucking insects (such as CMBS nymphs) when they are actively feeding on the plant [2,3]. Honeydew secretion is commonly found in all hemipteran insects such as aphids (Aphidoidea) and mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). The damages to plant health related to CMBS honeydew secretion is indirect since this sugar-rich sticky substance is not pathogenic to plants. However, sooty mold blocks sunlight on leaves and…
Attracting lady beetles for Conservation Biocontrol of Crapemyrtle Bark Scale
Crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS) poses a huge threat to the utility of crapemyrtle trees by reducing aesthetic value due to sooty mold growth and disrupting photosynthesis. Currently, most homeowners and nursery producers rely on chemical insecticides to manage CMBS populations, but these pesticides can negatively impact natural enemies, pollinators, and the environment at large. Different management approaches are being investigated to reduce the reliance on insecticides, particularly systemic insecticides to reduce CMBS populations and damage. When insects feed on plants, the plants emit a blend of volatile odors; ‘smell’s that are released into the air. One function of these volatile odors is to attract predators to attack the herbivores. Multiple species of lady beetles present already in landscapes are attacking CMBS as predators and have the potential for biological control of CMBS. Unfortunately, lady beetles don’t arrive until populations of CMBS are large and causing damage. What if we could attract them…
Announcing Webinars!
We are offering a 4-part webinar focusing on systematic crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS) management strategies. CMBS has been confirmed in all Southeastern states except Florida and as north as Kansas and Washington. It has significantly affected landscape and aesthetic value of crapemyrtle plants. Hope you can join us for all parts of the webinars. Attendees are asked to pre-register. Webinar recordings will be made available shortly after the webinars are live. See below for a general schedule of the webinars; stay tuned for more information in the near future. May 27, 2020: Feeding preference of Lagerstroemia (Crapemyrtle), Punica (pomegranate), and Callicarpa (beautyberry) taxa; consumer and grower preference survey. See below for recording: June 24, 2020: Mechanical control and biopesticides to manage crapemyrtle bark scale. See below for recording: July 22, 2020: Beneficial insects that are associated with crapemyrtle bark scale in the landscape or native habitat. August 19, 2020: Insecticidal…
Crapemyrtle bark scale Online Webinar
Tune in today, Friday March 27th, at 11 am CST, for an online webinar hosted by North Carolina State University (Stacey Jones) on crapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS); the invasive insect pest of crapemyrtles. The presenter will be Erfan Vafaie, covering the introduction, spread, population dynamics, and management of crapemyrtle bark scale for landscapers, nursery growers, and homeowners. Presentation co-authors include Dr. Mengmeng Gu, Dr. Mike Merchant, Dr. John Hopkins, Dr. James A. Robbins, Dr. Yan Chen, Dr. Kevin Heinz, Kyle Gilder, and Kenneth Masloski. The PowerPoint presentation and PDF is already available on our website for download: https://stopcmbs.com/resources/presentations/ The presentation will be recorded and made available for viewing; visit this page in the near future to get an update on where to view the video on-demand. https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/286125055
Testing Biopesticides to Manage Crapemyrtle Bark Scale
Additional contributors to this article include: Dr. Rodrigo Diaz, Dr. Yan Chen, Dr. Blake Wilson, and Dr. Vinson Doyle. Current crapemyrtle bark scale management methods depend heavily on pesticides, which can have a negative impact on beneficial insects. Biopesticides, insecticides that are developed from live organisms, have shown potential for managing several pests and have low impact on non-target insects and other organisms. The objectives of this research were to determine (1) if biopesticides can be used as a management tool to suppress crapemyrtle bark scale in different seasons, and (2) effects towards beneficial lady beetles known to attack crapemyrtle bark scale. For those interested, here as some details as to how we designed our trial. Treatments were applied as a bark spray to potted plants or full-grown trees infested with crapemyrtle bark scale during winter, spring, and fall 2019. The fungal biopesticides Ancora® (Isaria fumosorosea strain PFR97) and BioCeres®…