Aerial dispersal of first- and second-instar longtailed mealybug, Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti) (Pseudococcidae: Hemiptera)

Abstract

First- and second-instar Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti) were found in sticky plate traps erected around a commercial Josephine pear block. Of those trapped, 89% were first instars and11% second instars. Adult males are winged and capable of weak flight but were caught on only 2 of the76 days of trapping. It is unlikely that the winged males use the wind to assist them in dispersing to new locations. Numbers of instars found in the traps were positively related (P<0.05) to wind speed and to the square of the daily maximum temperature. Aerial dispersal could be important in the colonisation of new areas or in the spread of resistance genes.