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ViewAttendees 3

Member Symposium

Synergy in Biological Control of invasive insects: Utilizing the Ecology and Behavior of Natural Enemies

4: Classical biological control of Trioza erytreae, HLB vector, in Spain

On-Demand
On-Demand
Huanglongbing (HLB) is the main threat to the European citrus industry since one of its vectors, the African citrus psyllid Trioza erytreae, has recently become established in northwest of Spain and Portugal. Although all citrus producing areas in the Mediterranean basin are still free of the vector and disease, a classical biological control program was initiated to limit the spread of the psyllid. The main citrus producing areas of South Africa were sampled during 2017 to collect native parasitoids. Unlike previous studies, the parasitoid complex of T. erytreae included three species of primary parasitoids: Tamarixia dryi, Psyllaephagus pulvinatus and another parasitoid of the genus Tamarixia. Molecular analysis showed that it is a new species closely related to T. dryi and field data suggested that it parasitizes older nymphal stages than T. dryi. Tamarixia dryi was the most abundant and widely distributed parasitoid and it was introduced in Spain in December 2017. Host range studies demonstrated that T. dryi is a highly specific parasitoid as it did not develop in 11 alternative psyllids under controlled conditions. The parasitoid was released in an experimental citrus orchard from Tenerife, Canary Islands, in spring 2018. From there, T. dryi spread throughout the island and moved to five adjacent islands. After two years, the parasitoid has established and reduced T. erytreae levels in Canary Islands. Tamarixia dryi was finally released in mainland Spain and Portugal in fall 2019. In spring 2020, the first individuals of the parasitoid have been recovered after overwintering.