Abstract
This mealybug species has the ability to increase rapidly in population size and spread to cover vast areas where host plants occur, in a relatively short period of time. It has been reported from over 200 hosts. Since the original description of P. solenopsis from Atriplex canescens in New Mexico, USA in 1898, no reports on its presence were reported until 1967 (McKenzie, 1967; McDaniel, 1975). Later, Fuchs et al. (1991) reported small, sporadic populations on cotton in Runnels County, Texas, USA in 1988 that spread 75 to 200 miles from the original site with contiguous populations by 1990. With the increase in international trade over the last few decades, this invasive pest has been collected and identified on host material at international ports and in greenhouses outside its native range (Jansen, 2004). As such, P. solenopsis has become established in the Afrotropical, Australasian, Nearctic, Neotropical, and Oriental regions.
Investigating the Parasitoid Community Associated with the Invasive Mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis in Southern China
