Suitability of Different Host Plants for Nymphs of the Sharpshooter Tapajosa Rubromarginata (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Proconinii) (Scientific Notes) (Report‪)‬

The Proconiini tribe (sharpshooters) is one of the largest groups of xylem-feeding insects and includes the majority of the known vectors of xylem-born phytopathogenic organisms (Rakitov & Dietrich 2001; Redak et al. 2003). The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (= H. coagulata Say, Takiya et al. 2006), has become a major pest in California primarily as vector of Xylella fastidiosa, a bacteria that causes severe diseases to grapes, citrus, and other important crops (Blua et al. 1999). The invasion of GWSS into California during the last decade and most recently the Pacific Islands in both Hemispheres promotes an increment of studies on diverse aspects of proconines hoppers. The development of an effective pest management strategy to control H. vitripennis requires not only the knowledge of the pest biology but also of their parasitoids and other species potentially suitable for use in new association strategies. A search for, and evaluation and colonization of, egg parasitoids of closely related Proconiini in South America was initiated. Areas of Argentina, Chile, and Peru were selected for surveys due to their close matches to current and potential distributions of the GWSS in California (Jones 2003). Since Nov 2000, an extensive exploration of sharpshooter egg parasitoids in those regions was carried out. The survey was conducted using sentinel eggs of the common South American proconiini sharpshooter, Tapajosa rubromarginata Signoret. At least 20 species of egg parasitoids were recovered from this species during the study (Logarzo et al. 2003, 2004, 2006; Virla et al. 2005).