title: Crop Loss Relationships and Economic Injury Levels for Ferrisia gilli (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Infesting Pistachio in California.
abstract: Ferrisia gilli Gullan (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a new pest in California pistachios, Pistacea vera L. We conducted a 3-yr field study to determine the type and amount of damage caused by F. gilli. Using pesticides, we established gradients of F. gilli densities in a commercial pistachio orchard near Tipton, CA, from 2005 to 2007. Each year, mealybug densities on pistachio clusters were recorded from May through September and cumulative mealybug-days were determined. At harvest time, nut yield per tree (5% dried weight) was determined, and subsamples of nuts were evaluated for market quality. Linear regression analysis of cumulative mealybug-days against fruit yield and nut quality measurements showed no relationships in 2005 and 2006, when mealybug densities were moderate. However, in 2007, when mealybug densities were very high, there was a negative correlation with yield (for every 1,000 mealybug-days, there was a decrease in total dry weight per tree of 0.105 kg) and percentage of split unstained nuts (for every 1,000 mealybug-days, there was a decrease in the percentage of split unstained of 0.560%), and a positive correlation between the percentage of closed kernel and closed blank nuts (for every 1,000 mealybug-days, there is an increase in the percentage of closed kernel and closed blank of 0.176 and 0.283%, respectively). The data were used to determine economic injury levels, showing that for each mealybug per cluster in May there was a 4.73% reduction in crop value associated with quality and a 0.866 kg reduction in yield per tree (4.75%).
authors.affiliation: University of California Cooperative Extension, Kern County, 1031 South Mount Vernon, Bakersfield, CA 93307. dhaviland@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Haviland
authors.affiliation: University of California Cooperative Extension, Kings County, 680 Campus Drive, Suite A, Hanford, CA 93230.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Beede
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3114.
authors.forename: Kent M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Daane
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D002140:California; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000191:economics*; D006430:Hemiptera; D060434:Herbivory; D027927:Pistacia
keywords: Ferrisia gilli; crop damage; economic injury level; mealybug; pistachio