Life states of the goldspotted oak borer.  From left: fourth-instar larva, fourth instar larva in a hairpin configuration and in a constricted form, pupa and adult.  Photo by Mike I. Jones

First identified in California in 2004, the goldspotted oak borer (GSOB), Agrilus auroguttatus, has killed more than 24,000 oak trees in San Diego County since its arrival, probably in the late 1990s.   In 2012, it was detected in Riverside County and it is expected to spread northward in the state. 

The most seriously damaged oaks are those in the red oak group including coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, and black oak, Q. kelloggi.   It also infests canyon live oak, Q. chrysolepis but has not been found to kill the other native oak species in the area, the Englemann oak, Q. englemanni.  So far losses have been most serious in parks and forested areas, but landscape trees are also being killed.

A new Pest Note from the UC IPM program outlines management guidelines for this serious pest.  Flatheaded borers such as GSOB are difficult to manage and seriously infested trees cannot be saved. The primary way GSOB spreads into new areas is through the movement of infested wood and the authors recommend leaving infested wood on site for 2 years.    If wood is to be moved, the Pest Note provides guidelines for treating it through containment, grinding, and debarking.   Guidelines for replanting infested areas, less susceptible oak species, biological control, insecticide applications and developing GSOB management plans are also described. 

Many other borers attack oaks but do not kill trees.  GSOB infested trees can be distinguished by the characteristic D-shaped emergence holes it leaves behind.  A special feature of the Pest Note is a table illustrating the emergence holes of borer species on southern California oaks.  Many photos are also included.

The information in this Pest Note: Goldspotted Oak Borer is based primarily on research studies by the authors:  Mary Louise Flint (UCIPM and Entomology/UC Davis), Tom Coleman and Steve Seybold (USDA/US Forest Service), and Mike Jones (Entomology/UC Davis).  Find it at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74163.html

Nymph of the Virginia creeper leafhopper (VCLH), Erythroneura ziczac.  It is a new invasive pest on grapes.
(Photo by Mike Poe, UC IPM)

The influx of invasive species has been on the rise in the last decade.  One invasive insect recently detected in the North Coast counties of Mendocino and Lake is the Virginia creeper leafhopper (VCLH), Erythroneura ziczac. UC IPM Advisor Lucia Varela, in collaboration with Mendocino County Viticulture and Plant Science Advisor Glenn McGourty, is investigating VCLH.  VCLH is similar in appearance

and life cycle to the native western grape leafhopper (WGLH), Erythroneura elegantula. View the videos to distinguish the two species. The difference is that WGLH is well controlled by a complex of Anagrus species egg parasites while VCLH, as a new invasive, is not. While insecticides that effectively control WGLH also control VCLH in conventional vineyards, in organic vineyards VCLH control is more difficult due to high populations, and damage has been observed. Native to the northern Midwest, VCLH was first spotted in Northern California in the late 1980s. Since then it has been moving southward and was detected in the northern Sacramento Valley and northern Sierra Foothills by 2008.

See UC IPM’s 2012 Annual Report for more news on non-native bugs invading California. 

 Asian citrus psyllid adult and immatures on citrus (Photo by Michael Rogers, UC)

Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) was found on November 5 in Santa Maria for the first time.  This is actually the first report of its presence in Santa Barbara County after it appeared nearly two years ago (January, 2011) in Ventura County.  A single psyllid was found on a CDFA trap in a residential area in Santa Maria and CDFA immediately treated the area and the surroundings.

ACP is a small homopteran insect that looks like a miniature cicada.  It transmits a bacterial disease known as citrus greening or huanglongbing (HLB) or yellow dragon disease.  Both the pest and disease are native to Asia and pose a serious threat to the citrus industry.

Aggressive quarantine and area wide management efforts by CDFA and other agencies are limiting the spread of the pest and the disease.

A summary of ACP and HLB can be found at: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4165

For additional information, visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/citrus_greening/
index.shtml and http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/acp/.

If you notice this pest, please bring it to my attention (skdara@ucdavis.edu or 805-781-5940) or your local Ag Commissioner’s Office.

Someone recently brought specimens of what they thought were bed bugs.  Actually they are larvae of carpet beetle.  Here is a brief note about them.

Carpet beetles belong to the Coleopteran family of Dermestidae, which are commonly known as dermestid or skin beetles.  These are scavengers and feed on a variety of plant and animal material.  Larger members of this family belong to the genus Dermestes.  Smaller and common household pests belong to the genera Attagenus and Anthrenus.  Dermestids feed on furniture, carpet, fur, leather, stored food, museum specimens, and other materials.

Varied carpet beetle larva dorsal view (above) and ventral view (below).  Photo by: Surendra Dara

The three species of carpet beetles common in California are varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci), furniture carpet beetle (A. flavipes), and black carpet beetle (Attagenus megatoma).  The specimens I received appear to be varied carpet beetle larvae.

More information on carpet beetles, their identification and control can be found at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7436.html.