Seasonal Occurrences and Chemical Control of Oyster Scale, Psuedaulacaspis cockerelli (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) in Sweet Persimmon Orchards in Korea

An investigation was conducted to determine the characteristics of seasonal occurrences and effective insecticides for minimizing the occurrence of Pseudaulacaspis cockerelli in sweet persimmon orchards. Most of the nymphs or female scales that mated in mid-September overwintered on twigs, matured to lay eggs in the next spring in accordance with temperature increase, and survived till mid to late May to lay all of their eggs. Males mostly died after mating by the end of September, while the males on the fallen leaves died during the hibernating period. Egg laying in P. cockerelli showed differences in accordance with the weather conditions in each year. They laid eggs from mid-April to mid- or late May, with a peak in early or mid-May. A female was estimated to lay 160 eggs; eggs hatched a week later from the peak period of egg laying. In summer, egg laying started in early or mid-July and ended in mid- or late August, with a peak in late July or early August; a female laid approximately 130 eggs in summer. The estimated egg period was 4 days. The first generation nymph that hatched from the eggs laid by the overwintered female on twigs showed 10% occurrence on twigs and 90% on leaves. The first generation nymphs on twigs mostly developed into female scales. The occurrence of the second generation nymphs reached a peak on July 27, 2009; they lived on the twigs as their overwintering site from mid- or late August. The female and male scales on leaves developed at the similar rate as the first generation nymphs up to August. The occurrence of male scales indicated that the peak occurrence of nymphs was on August 12, 2009, male scales on August 27, and adults approximately on September 14, which showed steady relationship in the sequence of development from nymphs to adult males. Among the nymphs that occurred on the leaves on August 12, 75% of them emerged into male adults, mated, and died. Buprofezine+dinotefurn (20+15) WP treatment on June 9 and 16 resulted in 90.6% control of P. cockerelli, when mortality was checked 7 weeks after treatment.