As in past years, Dr. Brian Hogg at USDA’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California, is seeking research sites for bagrada bug research, and is interested to hear about bagrada bug infestations anywhere in California.
This is the time of year when bagrada bug populations usually start increasing in cole crop fields. High numbers may also be found on weeds, especially shortpod mustard and perennial pepperweed.
Any cole crop fields or weed patches that are infested with bagrada bug would work for our purposes. Time constraints prevent us from visiting sites more than four hours’ drive from the San Francisco area, but we have collaborators elsewhere in the state.
We are surveying for resident parasitic wasps and predators that attack bagrada bug eggs. The long-term goal is to introduce parasitic wasps from the bagrada bug’s native range (Pakistan) that we are currently testing in our quarantine facility.
Interested growers can contact Brian Hogg at brian.hogg@ars.usda.gov.
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Brian Hogg is a USDA-Agricultural Research Service Research Entomologist. The primary aim of his research is to improve control of invasive agricultural pests by using biological control agents. His current research projects include biological control of bagrada bug and spotted wing drosophila; movement of bagrada bug and spotted wing drosophila in the crop landscape; and efficacy of resident natural enemies of bagrada bug and spotted wing drosophila.