title: Irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment for white peach scale (Homoptera: Diaspididae).
abstract: Irradiation was examined as a potential phytosanitary treatment to control white peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti) (Homoptera: Diaspididae), a serious quarantine pest of papaya, Carica papaya L., in Hawaii. Dose-response tests were conducted with second-stage nymphs, adult females without eggs, and adult females with eggs at a series of irradiation doses between 60 and 150 Gy to determine the most tolerant stage. The adult female with eggs was the most tolerant stage. In large-scale validation tests 35,424 adult female scales with and without eggs irradiated at a dose of 150 Gy produced no F1 generation adults with eggs. Irradiation treatment with a minimum absorbed dose of 150 Gy should provide quarantine security for white peach scale on exported papaya and other commodities.
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS, U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 4459, Hilo, HI 96720, USA. pfollett@pbarc.ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Follett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D029441:Carica; D005514:Food Irradiation; D016266:Food Parasitology; D006254:Hawaii; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000528:radiation effects*; D009758:Nymph / Q000528:radiation effects