Wasps join light brown apple moth control program

Calif. Dept. of Food and Agriculture has added a stingerless wasp to its integrated pest management efforts to control infestations of the light brown apple moth (LBAM). The pale yellow wasps (Trichogramma platneri and T. pretiosum) are native to California.

CDFA plans to augment the wasp populations in areas where LBAM infestations have recently been detected. Crews will place small cards with the wasp pupae on outdoor plants in the infested neighborhoods. The adults wasps seek out LBAM egg masses and lay their own eggs inside the LBAM eggs, eventually killing the developing LBAM when the wasp larvae emerge.

The initial sites chosen for this project are small LBAM-infested areas in San Luis Obispo and Sacramento counties. Placement of the wasp pupae was scheduled to begin in July.

LBAM is native to Australia and is known to damage crops as well as trees and plants found in urban landscapes, parks and the natural environment. California is the only known infested area in the continental U.S.