Monitoring for incursions of the tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) in Australian potato fields

Monitoring for incursions of the tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) in Australian potato fields Bactericera cockerelli (Triozidae) is a major biosecurity threat to the Australian potato and tomato industries. Originating from North America, B. cockerelli was discovered infesting glasshouse tomatoes near Auckland, New Zealand, in 2006. Since then it has spread throughout the North and South Islands where it has had a devastating effect on the potato, tomato, capsicum and tamarillo industries. The psyllid not only directly affects crop yield and quality through feeding on phloem but more importantly it is a vector of the bacterium, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’, which causes diseases such as psyllid yellows and Zebra Chip. In North America, B. cockerelli is highly migratory and it is feared that it may enter Australia by being carried on strong easterly winds from New Zealand, in the same way the currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribis-nigri) is thought to have entered Tasmania in 2004. Accordingly, in 2011 we initiated a trapping programme in major potato growing areas of eastern Australia to monitor for incursion of B. cockerelli using yellow sticky traps. This poster presents the results from the first two trapping seasons. To date, over 800 traps have been placed in the field and no B. cockerelli have been detected. However, over 2,500 native species of psyllids, including low numbers of Triozidae, have been caught.