UC Riverside

Exchanges among ants, honeydew-producing hemipteran pests (HPHs), and natural enemies are highly economically relevant interactions. Though ant-HPH pest partnerships are well-documented for many systems, little is known about the long-term consequences of these interactions in California citrus, particularly for newly emerging, economically devastating pests such as Diaphorina citri. We aim to bridge this knowledge gap by first, elucidating the impact of Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, management on infestation by several economically important HPH pests and the efficacy of their natural enemies and second, developing and commercializing critically needed L. humile chemical control and monitoring technologies.