Pasture Mealybug Research Update
The University of Florida has an extensive group of faculty working in different aspects of pasture mealybug (PMB) research. Those colleagues are spread across 7 Research and Education Centers, working in multiple commodities and aspects of PMB ecology, management and impact. Here is a broad summary of most of the research being developed in Florida.
EREC (Sugarcane)
Ongoing
- Entomology/Insecticide Management
- Five on-farm insecticide trials evaluating the efficiency of multiple insecticides with:
- Foliar applications
- Post-harvest soil applications
- At-plant in-furrow treatments
- Additional industry-cooperator field trials with crop protection companies.
- Evaluation and support data for emergency and crisis insecticide labels
- Five on-farm insecticide trials evaluating the efficiency of multiple insecticides with:
- PMB Biology
- Greenhouse PMB colony established and maintained
- Studies evaluating relationships among:
- PMB population density
- Leaf yellowing
- Sugar yield losses
- Sugarcane cultivar resistance screening
- Agronomy
- Field surveys and monitoring of PMB infestations.
- Drone/UAS-assisted detection and imaging.
- Nutritional product evaluations (Si, Co, micronutrients).
- Germination and establishment studies using infested seed cane.
- Variety tolerance
- Water Management
- Evaluation of short-duration flooding effects on PMB damage and sugarcane recovery.
- Soil moisture and water table management technologies.
Planned/Developing
- Agronomic Management
- Effects of P, K, and Si fertility on PMB resilience.
- Evaluation of planting dates.
- Planting method studies.
- Plant growth regulator studies.
- Weed Ecology
- Alternative grass host surveys.
- Field-margin to field-center movement studies.
- Identification of weed reservoirs supporting PMB populations.
- Plant Pathology
- Role of Fusarium in plant collapse.
- Evaluation of Trichoderma, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas as biological amendments.
IRREC/ARS Biocontrol Group
Ongoing
- Biological Control
- Survey of parasitoid communities throughout the Southeast.
- Rearing and identification of parasitoids emerging from PMB collections.
- Evaluation of commercially available predators and parasitoids against PMB.
- Testing candidate biocontrol species already available in laboratory colonies.
- Forage Support Studies
- Pasture variety susceptibility/resilience evaluations.
- Development of improved PMB sampling methodologies.
- Search for PMB-vectored viruses.
- Nutrition
- Field nutritional studies.
- Greenhouse nutrition studies examining mealybug responses to fertility, particularly nitrogen.
Planned/Developing
- Biological control
- Exploration for foreign classical biological control agents
- PMB Physiology
- Saliva characterization and plant response studies.
- Identification of mechanisms driving plant decline following infestation.
- PMB Ecology
- Wind dispersal studies.
- Feeding behavior studies using electropenetrography (EPG).
- Fire ecology and prescribed burning impacts.
- Alternative Host Systems
- Bamboo susceptibility and risk assessment studies.
Forage
Ongoing
- Pest Management
- Insecticide efficacy trials in pastures.
- Alternative control methods including biocontrol
- Variety susceptibility assessments.
- Evaluation of PMB abundance across forage systems.
- Soil and Plant Factors
- Plant and soil nutrient surveys
- Fertility-response studies
- Production Systems
- Hay and baleage production and management studies.
- Monitoring PMB effects under grazing and forage production systems.
Planned/Developing
- Precision Agriculture
- Drone/UAS-assisted detection and surveillance.
- Cultural Management
- Mowing management studies.
- Inherited field characteristics such as water table/flood management in incidence of PMB
- Additional grazing and forage management studies.
- Economics
- Economic loss and management cost assessment (conceptual stage).
Turfgrass/Urban Systems Group
Ongoing
- Surveillance
- Monitoring sod farms and low-input turf systems.
- Monitoring utility corridors, levees, retention ponds, and rights-of-way.
- Industry engagement with turfgrass stakeholders.
- Outreach
- Turf-specific management recommendations.
- Communications with FDOT and utility stakeholders.
Planned/Developing
- Landscape Management
- Alternatives to insecticides in public-use systems.
- Vegetation management strategies.
- Evaluation of flooding, mowing, burning, and other cultural approaches.
Genetics and Host Resistance Group
Planned/Developing
- Screening forage, turf, and sugarcane germplasm for tolerance/resistance.
- Coordination among plant breeders and geneticists.
- Gene-editing approaches for host resistance.
- Identification of resistance mechanisms and resistance traits.
- Long-term development of tolerant cultivars.