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Introduction National Program 304 Crop Protection and Quarantine Program addresses agricultural problems caused by insect, mite, and weed pests in crop and postharvest systems and natural areas. Plant pathogens and pest nematodes are excluded, since the Plant Diseases National Program addresses them. ARS has increased the program's focus on sustainable agriculture, as well as on agricultural production systems and natural systems, with increased emphasis on small farms and organic farming systems. Crop Protection and Quarantine National Program implementation workshops have now been initiated. Sixty-five participants attended the Protection of Stored Commodities Workshop held from October 12-14, 1999, in Manhattan, Kansas. The workshop on Pest Exclusion and Quarantine/Fruit Flies and Related Pests was held January 24-26, 2000, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Future workshops will be held on Weeds, May 2000; and Insects and Mites, July 2000. These workshops provide an opportunity for the ARS National Program Staff and agency scientists to meet with customers, stakeholders, and partners to assess the appropriateness of ARS research program activities, improve ARS understanding of customer needs, and promote coordination of research activities among ARS scientists and other public and private groups. The workshops will help ensure the relevance of research planned for the national program and its components. Consequent to workshop deliberations, concepts will be developed that will be important in the process of producing a final version of this National Program and for creating a 5-year National Program Action Plan. The importance of this program, and the action plan it will produce, is underscored by increasing public concerns about invasive insect and weed threats. Challenges posed by invasive species continue to grow, as increased travel and commerce result in more introductions of pest species into the United States. In California alone, pink hibiscus mealybug, vine mealybug, and olive fruit fly have become invasive this year, with Pierce's disease now aggressively transmitted there by an invasive leafhopper arriving from the southeastern United States. The Asian longhorned beetle is attacking trees in Chicago and New York City, and it is rapidly spreading to other locations, and water hygro has been found in south Florida. The President, responding to such invasive threats, signed Executive Order 13112 on February 3, 1999, which will result in formation of an interdepartmental Invasive Species Council. An Invasive Species Management Plan must be completed by August 2000. ARS has made significant progress in 1999 in meeting the challenge of managing exotic and native pests. A number of taxonomic keys, databases, and catalogues have been developed. For identification of insect parasites, molecular fingerprinting tools have been designed. Biological and ecological studies showed the importance of providing refuges for successful biological control and revealed the important role plants play in their own defenses. Mass rearing techniques for insect predators were greatly improved with progress in diet composition and feeding procedures. Significant progress has been made in grassland, wetland, and aquatic weed control, including the first release of an agent against saltcedar. For stored product and quarantine pests, there are new treatment methodologies and monitoring techniques, thus facilitating exports. Insect semiochemicals have been identified, lures have been developed, traps created, and mating disruption demonstrated. Increased detection is a potential alternative to chemically based treatments. Formulations of microbes and pesticides have been improved to lower exposure while achieving more economic pest control. New varieties of resistant crops were developed. The Areawide Codling Moth Pest Management Project now has more than 60,000 acres under community-based control, with significant reduction of pesticide use, and fruit damage maintained below a 0.1-percent economic threshold. Areawide projects continue on leafy spurge, stored-grain insects, and corn rootworm. SpurgeFest resulted in release by ranchers and landholders of over 60 million biological control agents against leafy spurge. In 2000, a biologically based areawide project will be initiated for suppression of fruit flies in Hawaii. For control of illicit drug weeds, progress was made in developing a hand-held sensor, deployable from helicopters, for detecting cannabis and in development of chemical control measures. The increasing importance of the World Wide Web was reflected in a workshop held on nontarget impacts of biological control agents; this e-workshop addressed customer concerns about the safety of such agents and was followed by an IOBC/CILBA-sponsored symposium in Montpellier, France, coincident with the opening of the new ARS European Biological Control Laboratory there. Responding to the desire to expand ARS engagement with minority institutions in agricultural sciences, a new biological control laboratory has been established in cooperation with Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida. ARS has assembled an inventory of its program activities on production of alternatives to the organophosphate and carbamate pesticides that could be phased out during implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act. This inventory may be accessed at http:www.nps.ars.usda.gov/sites/fqpa. Several 5-year research action plans have been implemented to control pests such as the boll weevil and corn earworm (cotton bollworm). A progress review of the Interagency Silverleaf Whitefly Research and Technology Transfer Plan has been published. These materials can be obtained from the ARS National Program Staff in Beltsville, Maryland. An interagency Asian longhorned beetle action plan is being compiled from individual agency plans, and ARS will partner to write an action plan for pink hibiscus mealybug. Some selected examples of progress are listed below under each component, representing a few of the many accomplishments that have been reported from the more than 147 in-house projects that are assigned to this National Program. ARS now links all of the annual project progress reports, both in-house and those funded extramurally, to this National Program Annual Report. This allows the reader to obtain additional information on the Program's progress and accomplishments. Selected Accomplishments for Fiscal Year 1999 (Listed by Component) Identification and Classification of Agriculturally and Environmentally Important Insects, Mites, Microbes, and Plants Improved systematics for biological control and interdiction of invasive species. As pesticides are removed from the market, biological control is an increasingly competitive alternative. Classical biological control, in which parasites are imported from overseas and released in the United States, is critically dependent on determining pest origin, which, in turn, depends on correct identification of pest species. Further, efficient interception of invasive species at ports of entry depends on timely identification of interdicted specimens. To these ends, systematists at Beltsville, Maryland, have made great progress, including completion or development of databases, and/or publication of keys for identification of sawflies, termites, grasshoppers, crickets, a newly discovered gall-wasp of Eucalyptus, parasitic wasps, fruit, flower, and soldier flies, stilt bugs, armyworms (Spodoptera spp.), olethreutid, tortricid, and pyralid moths, Hyalomyzus and Ovatus aphids, Hortiella mites, and scale insects of blueberries. The immature stages of the invasive pink hibiscus mealybug were described, and parasites of this mealybug were discovered in Mexico and sent to quarantine in Delaware. The laboratory also has a new molecular systematics unit that has completed phylogenetic analysis of pea and holly leafminers. As a service to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service quarantine and others, the Systematic Entomology Laboratory reported 7,425 identifications (2,720 of Urgent priority) of 21,688 insect and mite specimens. Improved detection of a narcotic plant . The detection of cannabis from aerial platforms remains a problem due to difficulty in developing spectral signatures unique to the weed. This is primarily due to the high degree of genetic heterogeneity of illicit cannabis, as well as the general practice of concealing plots within agricultural plantings, e.g., corn, or on public lands, primarily within state lands or U.S. National Forests. Despite these difficulties, ARS scientists, in cooperation with the National Aeronautics Space Administration and the Naval Systems Weapons Laboratory has made progress in developing hand-held sensors for deployment from helicopters. Some visual corroboration remains necessary. Investigation of the Biologies of Pest and Beneficial Organisms For biological control, think global, act local . When farming wheat, use of chemicals for insect control is often prohibitive due to the low price of grain. An alternative is to use biological control agents. To determine how to improve the impact of biological control agents, ARS scientists at Newark, Delaware, studied parasites of the Russian wheat aphid, an invasive pest that has caused American agriculture over $900 million in damage. Profiles of parasite aphid dispersal suggest that local refuges of natural enemies would aid significantly in aphid control. Thus, growers might inexpensively augment the natural suppressive effects of such biologicals in protecting their crop. Understanding Pest/Host Interactions and Economic or Environmental Impact Molecular identification of insect parasites . DNA fingerprinting tools for parasitic microwasps that attack insects are needed to evaluate the measure of control affected. For microwasp parasites of cereal aphids, such tools were developed by ARS scientists at Stillwater, Oklahoma. One of the microwasps, after release in South Africa, could be detected in parasitized aphids, thus proving the establishment of the parasite, and demonstrating the efficacy of the approach. Investigation of Pest Exclusion and Quarantine Treatment Procedures Male-specific semiochemicals for Asian longhorned beetle synthesized. The recent Asian longhorned beetle threat to United States forests has cost $5.2 million for eradication efforts, and restrictions on imports that could be infested with this exotic pest jeopardizes an estimated $33 billion in trade with China. Detection and trapping devices are urgently needed as a first line of defense. ARS scientists at Beltsville, Maryland, have discovered, identified, and synthesized male-specific compounds that may help the insects find one another for reproduction. The biological role of the male-specific odorants is not known as yet. Research is continuing at Beltsville to determine the role of the volatiles, to identify the sex attractant of beetle females, and to design an effective trap for this pest. Development of New
and Improved Pest Control Technologies Shelf life and storage of important insects can be extended by cryopreservation technology. Researchers, insectary managers,
action agencies, and the mass production of insects industry have an urgent need
to extend the shelf life of insects used in control programs. For example, one
of the major expenses ancillary to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service Screwworm Eradication Program in Central America is the $200,000 annual
cost of diet and personnel to maintain the screwworm back-up production strain.
ARS scientists at Fargo, North Dakota, in cooperation with ARS scientists in
Lincoln, Nebraska, have developed cryopreservation technology for screwworm fly
embryos that can survive to the adult stage after storage in liquid nitrogen,
thus decreasing the usual maintenance procedures and costs for sterile insect
production and release programs. This technology could also be adapted for
sterile fruit fly programs and mass production industries involved in natural
enemy biological control production. Diet for mass rearing of insect predators .
Augmentation biological control is a promising alternative to the use of
pesticides for insect management. However, the augmentation approach requires
the rearing of natural enemies that possess a high level of fitness. The
principal obstacle is lack of a suitable, inexpensive insect diet. Based on
studies of the feeding mechanisms of lygus bugs and their predators, researchers
at Starkville, Mississippi, have developed just such a diet. A broad patent has
been filed that covers a solid-to-liquid diet for insects that eat insects. This
diet will likely attract the attention of the expanding biological control
products industry in the United States and overseas. Synthetic attractants for Colorado potato beetle developed. The Colorado potato beetle is the principal insect pest of
potatoes in North America and Europe. Potato growers depend primarily on the use
of chemical insecticides, but the pest has developed resistance to every
insecticide used for its control. The identification of a chemical attractant
for Colorado potato beetle that could be used in behavior modification control
strategies has been elusive for years. ARS scientists at Beltsville, Maryland,
have now identified and synthesized an effective attractant for the beetle that
is emitted as a volatile from potato plants. The chemical attracts not only the
pest, but also predators that attack the pest. The discovery of an attractant
for this beetle and its predators provides a tool for population monitoring and
improved control with attracticide and biological control technologies. Mating disruption technology developed for control of diamondback moth and cabbage looper in cole crops. The Food Quality
Protection Act of 1996 puts at risk many of the chemical pesticides currently
used for insect pests of cole crops. The loss of these and other insecticides,
along with a lack of suitable substitutes, threatens the economic viability of
many small and medium farms in the United States. ARS scientists at Gainesville,
Florida, have developed a highly effective mating disruption system that
conserves natural enemies for control of the diamondback moth and cabbage looper
in Florida cole crops, especially cabbage. Pheromone treated fields generally
required 80 percent fewer insecticide applications compared to conventional
control practices. The technology has also been used successfully to control
beet armyworm. The technology is being commercialized by Shin-Etsu Chemical
Company, Japan, and United Agri-Products, an international company. Introduction of natural agents for biological control of invasive insects. Invasive insects cost American agriculture over $123
billion per year. A promising remedy is the introduction of biological control
agents from the invasive pest's home. To facilitate this, ARS maintains
quarantine facilities, such as the one in Newark, Delware, that receive and
screen promising natural enemies from overseas laboratories at Montpellier,
France; Buenos Aires (Hurlingham), Argentina; Brisbane, Australia; and Beijing,
China. This year, scientists imported and released natural enemies on pink
hibiscus mealybug, an insect established in the Caribbean that has recently
invaded southern California; lygus bugs, pests of cotton and alfalfa; and the
gypsy moth, a pest of hardwood trees. Further, explorations were done in Asia to
locate natural enemies of the Asian longhorned beetle, an insect that has
recently invaded urban maple tree plantings in Chicago and New York City;
codling moth, a pest of apples; Russian wheat aphid, cotton aphid, and green
peach aphid; European corn borer; cereal leaf beetle; and papaya mealybug. With
a biological control success rate of 17 percent, eventual savings could easily
be in the billions of dollars. Chemical control of illicit narcotic crops. ARS
scientists have developed a glyphosate-adjuvant mixture for application to
narcotic crops in high-rainfall environments; this development has substantially
increased the efficacy of the eradication program in Colombia. The program also
supports Operation Breakthrough, an interagency effort to more accurately
measure the increase in illicit narcotics cultivation in Colombia. Trichoderma for biological control of cocoa diseases. Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is an important sustainable tree crop in tropical regions. Production of cocoa bean has dropped dramatically in South America, primarily due to witches broom (caused by Crinipellis perniciosa) and frosty pod (caused by Monillopthora roreri). Both the U. S. State Department and the international donor community regard the rehabilitation of sustainable tree crops as essential to establishing an economic alternative to illicit narcotics cultivation. ARS scientists have developed a viable strategy for utilizing the endophyte Tricoderma as a control agent for cocoa pests. Field trials have progressed successfully in Brazil, Peru, and Costa Rica for 2 years. Success is such that the Peruvian government, with U.S. funding, will begin mass production of Tricoderma for cocoa
disease control. Both the Brazilian government and M&M Mars, Inc., Brazil,
are mass-producing the control agent now for application in Brazil. Better formulations for delivery of microbes and toxicants for insect control. Improved carriers are needed to reduce the
application rate of chemical insecticides, and to make feasible the use of
insect microbials, an alternative to chemicals. To reduce damage to fruit,
biodegradable spheres, developed by researchers at Peoria, Illinois, were shaped
and painted to attract and kill adult flies. The toxicant used, Imidacloprid, is
safe and used in very small amounts. No toxicant comes in contact with fruit or
leaves. The spheres represent a new use of corn flour and corn syrup. In another
project, SLAM, used in the ARS areawide program for control or corn rootworm, is
being improved via formulation techniques for enhanced residual activity. Two
option licenses have been granted, one for wheat gluten technology for
commercial insecticide formulation, and another for protection of insect
viruses. Improved cell culture of viruses for control of cotton bollworm (corn earworm). One of the most important pests of cotton and corn is the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea, a pest somewhat tolerant to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt),
which produces an insecticide that has been used in sprays and in genetically
engineered crops to control caterpillars. An impediment to development of viral
alternatives to this bacterium has been the expense of growing insect
baculoviruses in tissue culture. Using shaker flask cultures, ARS scientists in
Columbia, Missouri, have increased, by 3- to 4-fold, replication of a virus they isolated from cotton bollworm. The virus, thus produced, was highly infectious for the insect and is currently being commercialized as an environmentally safe alternative to chemical insecticides. Although the virus is currently being produced in caterpillars, continued advancement in virus cell culture techniques should lead to easier and less expensive fermentation production systems. Internet workshop for nontarget impacts of biological control. Although biological control introductions have proved to be a
cost-effective and nontoxic method for solving pest problems, controversy has
arisen concerning the possibility that introduced natural enemies might harm
nontarget species. To address this, ARS scientists at Newark, Delware, designed
an Internet workshop, which attracted 200 participants throughout the world, and
also helped coordinate a workshop in Montpellier, France, on nontarget effects.
The Internet approach should serve as a model for accelerated ARS responsiveness
to emerging social concerns regarding agricultural technologies. New ARS laboratory for biological control at Florida A&M University. Florida A&M University is a historically black
'1890' college. This year, ARS established a liaison with this university, with
the purpose of participating in the development of a Center for Biological
Control. Together with placement of scientists at the Center to develop use of
natural enemies of insects and weeds, ARS is developing a curriculum in
biological control for graduate students and has already recruited graduate
students in this discipline. Alternatively, impact will be measured by
graduation of students with an M.S. in biology and expertise in biological
control. Integration of Component Technologies Into IPM Systems and Development of Areawide Suppression Programs Areawide pest management of corn rootworm in the Midwest United States expands as growers adopt adult attraction technology. An
estimated 20 to 25 million acres of corn in the United States are annually
treated with soil insecticides for management of northern, western, and Mexican
corn rootworms, often as prophylatic treatments that increase the insecticide
load to the environment. ARS scientists at Brookings, South Dakota, have been
leading a 5-year areawide pest management partnership program with emphasis on
corn rootworm, using an adult insect attracticide bait as the primary management
tactic, as well as the integration of biologically based technologies for other
corn pests. After 3 years of the program, initially conducted at five primary
sites in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas, reduction in
root damage to corn has been greater than 90 percent. Adaptation of western corn
rootworm populations at the Illinois/Indiana site, where the pest's
behavior has changed to laying eggs in soybeans where corn and soybeans are
rotated, has been troublesome but will be addressed by various measures,
including use of improved attracticide formulations with longer residues.
Another strategy may be to use a new attracticide isolated from a bitter mutant
of the Hawkesbury watermelon by ARS scientists at Beltsville, Maryland. Grower
adoption has allowed for program expansion in Texas and Kansas and full transfer
of the technology to the farmer is expected to occur in the next two years. The
program was awarded an ARS technology transfer award. Development of integrated weed management strategies to improve grasslands. In the Central Great Plains, more than 19 million acres
of cropland are marginally economical and better suited to production of
perennial grasses, and over 70 million acres of degraded rangeland in the
Northern Great Plains need renovation and restoration. ARS scientists at
Lincoln, Nebraska, determined that the herbicide PLATEAU has the potential to
revolutionize the technology of grassland renovation and restoration. A model
was developed utilizing PLATEAU as the key component of integrated weed
management strategies. The grassland improvement model describes the process of
grassland deterioration and the importance of using multiple strategies to
improve grassland productivity and economic value. It was shown that PLATEAU is
the key component that can be used to establish native warm-season grasses and
legumes on marginal and highly erodible cropland and to reclaim leafy
spurge-infested grasslands. Sustainable management strategies for controlling wetland and aquatic weeds. Melaleuca currently infests about 400,000 acres of Florida's Everglades and invades bordering pasturelands. In October 1997, ARS scientists at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, released 3,300 larvae of the melaleuca snout beetle (Oxyops vitiosa), the first
biological control agent to be approved for release against this major
landscape-changing aquatic and wetlands weed. The released weevils increased
explosively, so that by June 1999 there were an estimated 72,000 adults and
14,000 larvae at the release site, and over 90 percent of the 49,000 plants at
the site had sustained weevil damage. This research shows that field nursery
sites can greatly increase the number of weevils available for distribution to
other sites and simultaneously reduce the labor necessary to produce the
agents. Ecologically based management of saltcedar. Saltcedar is an invasive exotic weed deliberately introduced from Eurasia into the United States for erosion control and as an ornamental plant. It has escaped cultivation and invades virtually all riparian corridors in the West. A multi-agency saltcedar consortium was developed and is being led by ARS to aid in program planning and implementation and for regulatory approval. The first biological control agent for saltcedar, a Diorhabda
leaf-feeding beetle, was released by ARS scientists at Temple, Texas, into field
cages at eight sites in six western states, and plans are in place for long-term
evaluation and monitoring. Approval for release of the leaf-feeding beetle has
been obtained from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Fish
and Wildlife Service. This is a breakthrough case involving approval for release
of a biological control agent under both the National Environmental Policy Act
and the Endangered Species Act. The saltcedar consortium is a model of how a
team-based program can plan, implement, and monitor a major weed management
program.
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