Skip to main content
Entomology 2020 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Plenary
Plenary
Livestream
Livestream
On-Demand
On-Demand
Student Competition
Student Competition
Video Chat
Video Chat
Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion
Mixer
Mixer
Poster Icons
Poster
Poster
Student Competition
Student Competition
ViewAttendees 6

P-IE

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad 10-min: P-IE, Biocontrol 3

Ecological host range of the Brazilian peppertree thrips, Pseudophilothrips ichini, an approved biological control agent for Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia

On-Demand
Student Competition On-Demand
Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) is one of the most problematic upland invasive plants in Florida. The biological control agent Pseudophilothrips ichini has a narrow host range and was therefore approved for control of S. terebinthifolia in 2019. Fundamental host range testing of Pseudophilothrips ichini indicates that P. ichini prefers the target weed Schinus terebinthifolia but can develop on closely related non-target trees under no-choice conditions. We evaluated the likelihood of the non-target host plant use and spillover of Pseudophilothrips ichini on non-target trees under field conditions in Florida. We examined residence time, larval development, and movement of P. ichini onto a subset of susceptible non-target trees identified by fundamental host range testing.