摘要
The mealybug Oracella acuta, native to the southeastern US, was accidentally introduced into slash pine plantations in Guangdong Province in China in 1988. A classical biological control program was initiated in 1995, and the parasitoids Allotropa oracellae, Acerophaus coccois, and Zarhopalus debarri were imported from the US. A total of 19 972 parasitized mealybugs were shipped to China from 1996-2004, from which 15 430 wasps emerged, 12 933 of which were the three target species. Efforts to establish a mass-rearing program for the parasitoids in China failed. Five field release sites were established, and 6 020 parasitoids were released. Only 118 individuals of the three imported species were collected during establishment checks, although several wasps were collected 1-2 years after the last parasitoid release. Over 2 000 Anagyrus dactylopii, a cosmopolitan parasitoid, emerged from the parasitized mealybugs collected, a majority from the Taishan area near the site of the original introduction ofO. acuta. To date the imported parasitoids have failed to establish, and natural enemies have not noticeably reduced mealybug populations.
The mealybug Oracella acuta, native to the southeastern US, was accidentally introduced into slash pine plantations in Guangdong Province in China in 1988. A classical biological control program was initiated in 1995, and the parasitoids Allotropa oracellae, Acerophaus coccois, and Zarhopalus debarri were imported from the US. A total of 19 972 parasitized mealybugs were shipped to China from 1996-2004, from which 15 430 wasps emerged, 12 933 of which were the three target species. Efforts to establish a mass-rearing program for the parasitoids in China failed. Five field release sites were established, and 6 020 parasitoids were released. Only 118 individuals of the three imported species were collected during establishment checks, although several wasps were collected 1-2 years after the last parasitoid release. Over 2 000 Anagyrus dactylopii, a cosmopolitan parasitoid, emerged from the parasitized mealybugs collected, a majority from the Taishan area near the site of the original introduction ofO. acuta. To date the imported parasitoids have failed to establish, and natural enemies have not noticeably reduced mealybug populations.
基金
The authors thank Weyerhaeuser Company, Union Camp Company, Mississippi Department of Forestry, Texas For- est Service, and Bowater Inc. for the use of their seed orchards for parasitoid collections. Chris Crowe, Mark Dalusky, and Mike Cody （Univeristy of Georgia） assisted with the field work in the US, and Tian-song Fang and Jia-xiong Xu （Guangdong Forest Research Institute） and many workers at the TaiShan Seed Orchard helped with field releases and surveys in China. The USDA Forest Service provided funding for travel and field work, par- tial support was also provided by the National Science Foundation of China （30525009）. Alan Bullard （USDA FS）, Wayne Berisford （University of Georgia）, and Jian Wu （State Forestry Administration） also helped support the project. The authors also thank Bill Roltsch （CDFA） and Jim Hanula （USDA FS SRS） for their reviews of an earlier draft of this paper.
