1 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:11,780 Ping Yu: Welcome to the Blooms and Beyond podcast, a podcast that uncovers plant history, culture, 2 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,520 Ping Yu: and management through the lens of science. 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:14,880 Ping Yu: I'm your host, Ping. 4 00:00:15,100 --> 00:00:16,040 Ping Yu: How's everyone doing today? 5 00:00:16,539 --> 00:00:31,080 Ping Yu: I'm doing great because I have one of my dear colleagues and friend, Dr. Zee Ahmed, here with me today to talk about one of the most urgent topics in the green industry, two-spotted cotton leafhopper. 6 00:00:31,759 --> 00:00:39,100 Ping Yu: Zee has been working on different pests for years, and we're going to pick his brain today to address one of those most concerning issues. 7 00:00:39,620 --> 00:00:47,699 Ping Yu: A bonus for you guys today is besides Zee, we have also brought another colleague, Dr. 8 00:00:46,239 --> 00:00:46,379 Ping Yu: [VERIFY: Possible Whisper artifact] 9 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:53,280 Ping Yu: Tom Bilbo, who has been dealing with this pest in vegetables, to give us additional 10 00:00:53,739 --> 00:00:55,659 Ping Yu: perspective on this specific pest. 11 00:00:56,140 --> 00:00:59,200 Ping Yu: So without further ado, I don't want to steal any more spotlight from our speakers today. 12 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:01,740 Ping Yu: Let's just jump right into it. 13 00:01:01,940 --> 00:01:06,120 Ping Yu: Without further ado, here is my conversation with Dr. Zee and Tom. 14 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:07,500 Ping Yu: I hope you enjoy it. 15 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:13,360 Ping Yu: So hi, Zee and Tom. 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:14,440 Ping Yu: Welcome to the podcast. 17 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,200 Ping Yu: But first, let's start off with the introduction. 18 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,500 Ping Yu: Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:21,800 Ping Yu: Zee, do you want to go first? 20 00:01:22,420 --> 00:01:27,840 Zee Ahmed: Thank you, Ping. I appreciate you inviting us to discuss this important topic. 21 00:01:28,570 --> 00:01:33,400 Zee Ahmed: Hi, everyone. I'm Zee Ahmed. I am an assistant professor at Clemson University, 22 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:40,020 Zee Ahmed: and my lab technically works on turf and ornamental entomology-related issues. 23 00:01:41,030 --> 00:01:45,800 Zee Ahmed: And overall, the focus which I have in my program is... 24 00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:50,740 Zee Ahmed: sustainable pest management. We do work on sustainable pest management and we don't 25 00:01:50,740 --> 00:01:55,200 Zee Ahmed: want to help people control the pest in the turf and ornamental industry sustainably. 26 00:01:55,940 --> 00:02:00,980 Zee Ahmed: And there are different schools of thoughts about sustainable pest management. The one 27 00:02:01,100 --> 00:02:07,760 Zee Ahmed: which I believe and I want to do in my career, especially on this position, is to help growers 28 00:02:08,739 --> 00:02:13,799 Zee Ahmed: apply control safely and at the same time with less cost. 29 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,819 Zee Ahmed: So that's where I feel like sustainability is safe and cost-effective. 30 00:02:20,420 --> 00:02:20,659 Ping Yu: Tom? 31 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:22,959 Tom Bilbo: Hey, Ping. 32 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,840 Tom Bilbo: I'm Tom Bilbo, Assistant Professor of Vegetable and Strawberry Entomology. 33 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:28,960 Tom Bilbo: I'm also at Clemson University. 34 00:02:30,410 --> 00:02:30,860 Tom Bilbo: I'm at our 35 00:02:30,890 --> 00:02:33,760 Tom Bilbo: Coastal Research and Education Center in Charleston, South Carolina. 36 00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:40,980 Tom Bilbo: Most of my research is in biological control of insect pests, insecticide resistance, 37 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,900 Tom Bilbo: and improving insecticide use overall. 38 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,360 Tom Bilbo: And so this is an interesting insect because it crosses over into a variety of fields, 39 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:52,300 Tom Bilbo: you know, ornamentals, vegetables, field crops. 40 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,340 Tom Bilbo: So it's an interesting problem for sure. 41 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:02,200 Ping Yu: So Tom, do you think you guys grew up as a nature kid or how did you first spark your 42 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,820 Ping Yu: interest in pests and plants? 43 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,880 Ping Yu: Or is this something just you never thought about getting into, but somehow end up in here? 44 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,440 Zee Ahmed: Well, I think I would say I was a nature person. 45 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:17,840 Zee Ahmed: I was an outdoor person. 46 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:25,500 Zee Ahmed: I still have very vivid memory of me collecting dragonflies during my primary school. 47 00:03:25,740 --> 00:03:27,100 Zee Ahmed: That's what I remember, earliest memory. 48 00:03:27,959 --> 00:03:30,380 Zee Ahmed: So yes, I was a nerdy nature guy. 49 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:34,700 Ping Yu: what about you Tom? 50 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,640 Tom Bilbo: yeah I grew up like in you know being big in the nature but I didn't I wasn't one of those kids that 51 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:45,659 Tom Bilbo: grew up playing with insects I was afraid of spiders and I had my parents do a spider check 52 00:03:45,700 --> 00:03:50,819 Tom Bilbo: in my room you know every night but now I love spiders but yeah it really wasn't until college 53 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,799 Tom Bilbo: had a really good undergrad course with a great teacher, Tom Schultz, and 54 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,360 Tom Bilbo: And then studied abroad and saw some amazing insects and just fell in love with entomology. 55 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:00,380 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, so that's kind of how I came about it. 56 00:04:00,540 --> 00:04:03,280 Ping Yu: And then did you get your, where did you get your degrees? 57 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,940 Tom Bilbo: My undergrad was at Denison University in Ohio and then PhD at Clemson University. 58 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:12,480 Ping Yu: What about you, Zee? 59 00:04:13,220 --> 00:04:16,320 Zee Ahmed: I got my undergrad in entomology from Pakistan. 60 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:21,280 Zee Ahmed: about 7,000 miles away from here. 61 00:04:21,780 --> 00:04:26,480 Zee Ahmed: So I have a very interesting journey to reach where I am now. 62 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,300 Zee Ahmed: Right after undergrad, I was looking for a scholarship 63 00:04:29,450 --> 00:04:33,740 Zee Ahmed: and there was a cultural exchange scholarship between Pakistan and China. 64 00:04:34,250 --> 00:04:39,960 Zee Ahmed: So I moved to China in Guangzhou, one of the third largest cities in China. 65 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:46,100 Zee Ahmed: And there's a famous agriculture university, South China Agriculture University. 66 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,120 Zee Ahmed: Did my master's there. 67 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:53,380 Zee Ahmed: And right after my master's, I was looking for a PhD scholarship. 68 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,360 Zee Ahmed: And that was a time when Commonwealth scholarship was announced and I applied for Commonwealth 69 00:04:58,660 --> 00:04:58,880 Zee Ahmed: scholarship. 70 00:04:59,050 --> 00:05:02,100 Zee Ahmed: I was asked to choose one Commonwealth country's. 71 00:05:02,580 --> 00:05:06,880 Zee Ahmed: So one of the Commonwealth countries and I decided to go to South Africa. 72 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Zee Ahmed: I did my PhD from University of Pretoria, again, across the continent, went to different 73 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:14,380 Zee Ahmed: continent. 74 00:05:15,139 --> 00:05:16,139 Zee Ahmed: I was so much energetic. 75 00:05:16,199 --> 00:05:19,160 Zee Ahmed: I don't know why I had that much energy that time. 76 00:05:19,380 --> 00:05:22,240 Zee Ahmed: So then I was looking for a postdoc. 77 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:24,760 Zee Ahmed: I was offered postdoc with the University of Florida. 78 00:05:25,419 --> 00:05:26,900 Zee Ahmed: I was with the University of Florida. 79 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,640 Zee Ahmed: for about four years. Then I was offered a job with the Florida Department of Agriculture and 80 00:05:33,740 --> 00:05:41,220 Zee Ahmed: Consumer Services. I was there as an entomologist for four years. Then I moved to USDA for about 81 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:47,800 Zee Ahmed: four years. I was a research entomologist with USDA Fort Pierce facility, working on ornamental pests. 82 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,400 Zee Ahmed: I came to know my predecessor decided to leave this job. 83 00:05:51,870 --> 00:05:57,040 Zee Ahmed: He jumped ship and I was so happy, but at the same time sad because my predecessor 84 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,440 Zee Ahmed: was very well known in turf and ornamental industry. 85 00:06:00,950 --> 00:06:03,860 Zee Ahmed: So then I moved to Clemson University last year. 86 00:06:04,010 --> 00:06:09,460 Zee Ahmed: And since then, I'm here and very excited to be part of the academic community again. 87 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:17,720 Ping Yu: Yeah, yeah. Well, don't worry. Your predecessor is doing great, but you are going to do a great job too. 88 00:06:18,740 --> 00:06:24,020 Ping Yu: Speaking of that, do you speak any Chinese or Mandarin while you're in China? 89 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,800 Zee Ahmed: I guess you have to learn to buy stuff, right? 90 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:32,280 Zee Ahmed: Otherwise, you have to... 91 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,960 Zee Ahmed: Like bargaining was something you have to do whenever you go out. 92 00:06:35,390 --> 00:06:37,860 Zee Ahmed: So, Toshu Chian was my first... 93 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:40,780 Zee Ahmed: Even before Ni Hao, I learned Toshu Chian. 94 00:06:41,300 --> 00:06:45,580 Zee Ahmed: And I guess that's something my senior told me that I have to learn that word 95 00:06:45,980 --> 00:06:47,780 Zee Ahmed: whenever I go buy the stuff. 96 00:06:47,780 --> 00:06:51,480 Zee Ahmed: I didn't even know how to say numbers, but I knew how to say Toshu Chian. 97 00:06:51,810 --> 00:06:53,700 Zee Ahmed: And then we do a numbering on calculators. 98 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:55,360 Ping Yu: I'm talking about the price. 99 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,140 Ping Yu: Yeah, and "duōshao qián" is "how much." 100 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:11,080 Ping Yu: If you ever watched the stand-up comedy with, oh gosh, Jimmy O. Yang, he had a special episode 101 00:07:11,460 --> 00:07:13,320 Ping Yu: or special, Netflix special. 102 00:07:13,610 --> 00:07:14,320 Ping Yu: Guess how much? 103 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,420 Ping Yu: That's his mom's catchphrase. 104 00:07:16,700 --> 00:07:19,280 Ping Yu: I guess that's an Asian thing. 105 00:07:19,590 --> 00:07:25,140 Ping Yu: But Tom, do you run into the same issue while you were studying abroad or with your exchange program? 106 00:07:27,940 --> 00:07:29,060 Tom Bilbo: Having to speak other languages? 107 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:29,740 Ping Yu: Uh-huh. 108 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,480 Tom Bilbo: No, I'm just, I'm a typical American. 109 00:07:32,570 --> 00:07:33,520 Tom Bilbo: I studied abroad in Ecuador. 110 00:07:33,740 --> 00:07:33,900 Tom Bilbo: Spanish? 111 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,600 Tom Bilbo: I attempt to speak some Spanish to get around and basics like that, but... 112 00:07:37,660 --> 00:07:41,460 Tom Bilbo: No, I can't. I can't hold my own in a convo. I can read the newspaper a little bit. 113 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:53,700 Ping Yu: So how did you guys start to work on this pest issue or this pest? 114 00:07:53,980 --> 00:07:58,660 Ping Yu: Because I think the whole thing, the two-spotted cotton leafhopper, started to draw attention. 115 00:07:59,220 --> 00:08:06,540 Ping Yu: I don't know about vegetable or cotton industry, but in green industry, I start to hear that a lot. 116 00:08:07,220 --> 00:08:10,520 Ping Yu: since earlier this year. 117 00:08:11,259 --> 00:08:14,000 Ping Yu: And then all of a sudden it becomes such a big issue. 118 00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:18,639 Ping Yu: But can you share a little bit about the background from your side 119 00:08:18,900 --> 00:08:24,240 Ping Yu: of how you guys got interested and drew your attention to this pest? 120 00:08:26,620 --> 00:08:27,940 Zee Ahmed: Yeah, so I can go first. 121 00:08:28,270 --> 00:08:34,460 Zee Ahmed: I was, first time I came to know about this from my colleague here, Dr. Francis Reay-Jones, 122 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,919 Zee Ahmed: he came to my office and told me that they are having a lot of issues with the cotton. 123 00:08:40,979 --> 00:08:46,600 Zee Ahmed: And he brought actually a sample to me and we were taking pictures together for that in 124 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:47,180 Zee Ahmed: that pest. 125 00:08:47,780 --> 00:08:53,260 Zee Ahmed: So that's where I started thinking about it. And that was around early summer this year. 126 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:59,800 Zee Ahmed: I know I talked to my colleagues in Florida. One of my really best friend and colleague, 127 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,800 Zee Ahmed: Aimee Roda, I talked to her. She was previously working in USDA. Now she's with the University 128 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:11,260 Zee Ahmed: of Florida. I talked to her briefly and then I started looking for it in Florida. 129 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,240 Zee Ahmed: South Carolina because my aim was to see if we have it here. 130 00:09:15,820 --> 00:09:17,800 Zee Ahmed: Obviously, we knew it is on cotton for sure. 131 00:09:18,529 --> 00:09:25,519 Zee Ahmed: And within just a week or something, we received a call from a grower at our farmer's market. 132 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,980 Zee Ahmed: And she grows hibiscus and she sells hibiscus. 133 00:09:29,519 --> 00:09:33,100 Zee Ahmed: And apparently, the hibiscus which she had in her back... 134 00:09:33,319 --> 00:09:40,540 Zee Ahmed: Backside of her outlet shop in a farmer's market, there were over 100 hibiscus. 135 00:09:41,220 --> 00:09:43,779 Zee Ahmed: And she wanted me to go and check them. 136 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:48,139 Zee Ahmed: And I took my students and went there without any effort. 137 00:09:48,329 --> 00:09:48,920 Zee Ahmed: They were there. 138 00:09:50,380 --> 00:09:55,420 Zee Ahmed: we were not sure how long they were there and then we traced them back to the nursery. 139 00:09:56,220 --> 00:10:00,800 Zee Ahmed: Again, I'm talking about those hibiscus which were being grown here and not those which were 140 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:08,880 Zee Ahmed: imported and they were there and it didn't take us much effort to do it, to find it. 141 00:10:08,980 --> 00:10:09,160 Zee Ahmed: Yep. 142 00:10:10,060 --> 00:10:13,200 Zee Ahmed: And that's what I came to know about it and since then, 143 00:10:13,779 --> 00:10:22,240 Zee Ahmed: All our efforts are trying to help reduce the population, because we know we still have growers who have a zero pest tolerance. 144 00:10:22,550 --> 00:10:29,660 Zee Ahmed: So we're trying to find a way to reduce it at a zero so they can sell their crops. 145 00:10:30,620 --> 00:10:33,199 Zee Ahmed: That's what was my first introduction with this pest. 146 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,220 Ping Yu: What is, what's the story behind the thing on the vegetable side, Tom? 147 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:47,380 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, really for us in South Carolina, it really came out of nowhere and it came fast. 148 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:54,820 Tom Bilbo: Didn't, I hadn't even heard about the insect until again, like Francis Reay-Jones and Jeremy Green, our colleagues here at Clemson working in cotton. 149 00:10:55,700 --> 00:11:00,420 Tom Bilbo: They brought it up in like July, maybe I was like, yeah, I'll keep a lookout, look out for it. 150 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,240 Tom Bilbo: You know, only a couple of weeks passed before we started finding it. 151 00:11:04,540 --> 00:11:08,460 Tom Bilbo: I mean, in the low country where I am, low country, South Carolina, it's like every okra 152 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:09,520 Tom Bilbo: we look for, we found it on. 153 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,340 Tom Bilbo: And so we have a good agent down here, Zach Snipes. 154 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,300 Tom Bilbo: He went around and just, I mean, almost every single farm had it. 155 00:11:15,300 --> 00:11:17,860 Tom Bilbo: And we're like, wow, okay, this is, it's not just here, but it's everywhere. 156 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:19,780 Tom Bilbo: And we got to start getting a grip on it. 157 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,960 Tom Bilbo: So then all of our agents banded together and they started sampling a lot of the counties 158 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:24,600 Tom Bilbo: in South Carolina. 159 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:33,840 Tom Bilbo: And we started to understand that it was pretty widespread both throughout South Carolina and among cropping systems. 160 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,500 Ping Yu: Do you guys happen to know when it is first reported in the United States? 161 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:43,600 Ping Yu: Is that an invasive pest or is it just native pest? 162 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:52,880 Zee Ahmed: So it was reported in 2024, if I remember correctly. 163 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:54,040 Zee Ahmed: Tom, you can correct me. 164 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,100 Zee Ahmed: But before that, it was reported in the Caribbean. 165 00:11:55,300 --> 00:11:55,480 Zee Ahmed: Yeah. 166 00:11:58,500 --> 00:12:00,540 Zee Ahmed: And then it was reported in Florida. 167 00:12:01,340 --> 00:12:06,380 Zee Ahmed: And 2025, it's now almost all in Southeastern states. 168 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,340 Zee Ahmed: I cannot say all, but most of Southeastern states has it. 169 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:18,420 Zee Ahmed: And it seems like it is here for some time based on the number of generations we are finding, based on the level of infestation. 170 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:26,600 Ping Yu: So, because I think one of the major concerns of this pest, at least for the green industry, is... 171 00:12:26,620 --> 00:12:35,160 Ping Yu: Once it becomes a quarantine pest in any given state, it makes it even harder. 172 00:12:35,959 --> 00:12:40,399 Ping Yu: It kind of worries people, especially growers, who have to deal with this pest. 173 00:12:40,779 --> 00:12:44,139 Ping Yu: It's kind of like the situation with thrips parvispinus back then in Florida. 174 00:12:44,940 --> 00:12:48,800 Ping Yu: And people freak out because they have to... 175 00:12:49,220 --> 00:12:56,600 Ping Yu: control this pest. Otherwise, they cannot basically run their operation for days until they're clear. 176 00:13:01,140 --> 00:13:12,720 Ping Yu: But back to the point, can you give a little background, an introduction to our audience today who may not be familiar with what is the two-spotted cotton leafhopper? 177 00:13:13,089 --> 00:13:16,820 Ping Yu: Can you share with us a little bit about the pest? 178 00:13:16,820 --> 00:13:20,160 Ping Yu: basic information on the biology side. 179 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,720 Ping Yu: What does it look like and what is their life cycle? 180 00:13:25,540 --> 00:13:26,040 Zee Ahmed: I can go. 181 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:34,040 Zee Ahmed: So regarding the life cycle, which is I think so whenever we receive any invasive species, 182 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:41,019 Zee Ahmed: We are dependent on the life cycle study, the biology study, which came from the native region, right? 183 00:13:41,620 --> 00:13:46,680 Zee Ahmed: And that can sometimes, that helps, but we still have to do our own studies. 184 00:13:46,850 --> 00:13:49,040 Zee Ahmed: We are in the process to do life cycle study. 185 00:13:50,060 --> 00:13:53,319 Zee Ahmed: So first thing I would say right away for this is really small. 186 00:13:54,100 --> 00:13:56,800 Zee Ahmed: I'm talking about the adult, it's less than five millimeters. 187 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,580 Zee Ahmed: So it's really small. 188 00:13:59,339 --> 00:14:06,740 Zee Ahmed: And the best thing about this is that it has two black spots on its posterior wings, both wings. 189 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,779 Zee Ahmed: So you can see those two spots. 190 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:10,040 Zee Ahmed: I'm talking about adult. 191 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,640 Zee Ahmed: Size is still small, but those two spots is the reason it has a name, two spots, 192 00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:18,260 Zee Ahmed: cotton leafhopper. 193 00:14:18,580 --> 00:14:26,900 Zee Ahmed: So it lays egg and eggs, within six to nine days, they hatch in the summer because the 194 00:14:27,020 --> 00:14:28,380 Zee Ahmed: study was conducted in the summer. 195 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,160 Zee Ahmed: And there are five nymphal instars. 196 00:14:32,140 --> 00:14:38,140 Zee Ahmed: We observed based on our initial data that each instar lasted two to three days. 197 00:14:38,500 --> 00:14:40,700 Zee Ahmed: This is something which is talking about on hibiscus. 198 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:50,540 Zee Ahmed: So in overall, we are noticing that egg to adult developmental period on hibiscus was about two to three weeks. 199 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:53,120 Zee Ahmed: This was study conducted. 200 00:14:53,459 --> 00:14:54,300 Zee Ahmed: We are still doing this. 201 00:14:54,500 --> 00:15:00,820 Zee Ahmed: We're still doing this work, but this was done in September and October in the field cages. 202 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:06,300 Zee Ahmed: So the nymph, they usually feed underside, allowing veins of the leaf. 203 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:12,940 Zee Ahmed: And overall, what we observed so far, adult lives about two weeks, about 13 to 14 days, 204 00:15:13,300 --> 00:15:14,139 Zee Ahmed: male adult. 205 00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:18,399 Zee Ahmed: And the females, they live a little longer than the male. 206 00:15:18,860 --> 00:15:23,399 Zee Ahmed: Life cycle very heavily dependent on the temperature and host plants. 207 00:15:23,899 --> 00:15:29,399 Zee Ahmed: We recently published a study in GrowerTalks, which is online, came in the December issue, 208 00:15:30,060 --> 00:15:32,399 Zee Ahmed: and we provided a field guide for... 209 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:38,300 Zee Ahmed: with the very initial data about its diagnostics and its biology on hibiscus. 210 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,880 Zee Ahmed: So I would really recommend people to look at it. 211 00:15:42,390 --> 00:15:45,600 Zee Ahmed: So a little bit about the damage symptoms. 212 00:15:46,180 --> 00:15:49,060 Zee Ahmed: We are noticing that, as you have seen in literature, 213 00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:54,640 Zee Ahmed: this hopper is associated with a very specific damage which is called hopper burn. 214 00:15:55,080 --> 00:16:01,960 Zee Ahmed: And hibiscus, we found the bond was not as much as in cotton. 215 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,020 Zee Ahmed: Again, we had a light infestation when we got hibiscus. 216 00:16:06,660 --> 00:16:13,220 Zee Ahmed: And when population was there for some time, we started finding a lot of yellowing and browning. 217 00:16:13,420 --> 00:16:16,560 Zee Ahmed: And then we did find a wilting and curling of leaves. 218 00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:24,820 Zee Ahmed: And again, the symptoms are yellowing, curling, wilting, and typically it is called hopper 219 00:16:26,100 --> 00:16:26,240 Zee Ahmed: burn. 220 00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:28,620 Zee Ahmed: And that's on hibiscus. 221 00:16:28,820 --> 00:16:33,280 Zee Ahmed: I think Tom maybe went ahead from vegetable side. 222 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,400 Tom Bilbo: you can find similar symptoms on the vegetable, 223 00:16:37,820 --> 00:16:38,580 Tom Bilbo: yellowing of the leaves, 224 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,080 Tom Bilbo: curling of the leaves for sure. 225 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:41,860 Tom Bilbo: I guess just to add what you said, 226 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,680 Tom Bilbo: you noted they have the two spots make it characteristic. 227 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,300 Tom Bilbo: I think you were compiling a list, 228 00:16:47,420 --> 00:16:48,640 Tom Bilbo: I don't know if you published it yet, 229 00:16:48,780 --> 00:16:50,400 Tom Bilbo: a list of possible lookalikes, 230 00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:52,700 Tom Bilbo: but I think at least in the U.S., 231 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:54,600 Tom Bilbo: if you were looking for... 232 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:00,040 Tom Bilbo: that, you know, leafhopper shape and then those and then the spots is more or less indicative. 233 00:17:00,759 --> 00:17:01,620 Tom Bilbo: You know what you have. 234 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,339 Tom Bilbo: And and you're like you said, it's small, easy to miss. 235 00:17:06,439 --> 00:17:10,179 Tom Bilbo: A lot of folks, I think, are seeing the damage before they're ever seeing the insects. 236 00:17:12,380 --> 00:17:21,860 Ping Yu: Yeah, just to clear one thing here for people who doesn't know why cotton leaf hopper is a big issue for hibiscus from the plant perspective. 237 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,100 Ping Yu: Cotton and hibiscus are from the same family. 238 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:39,360 Ping Yu: So that's why the name is cotton leafhopper, but it does cause a lot of damage for a lot of ornamental plants that share some similar characteristics with the family. 239 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:40,700 Ping Yu: Speaking of that... 240 00:17:40,799 --> 00:17:45,279 Ping Yu: Do you guys know what is the host range for this pest? 241 00:17:45,460 --> 00:17:51,840 Ping Yu: I know it's wild, but can you give us a couple examples from both ornamental and the vegetable 242 00:17:52,179 --> 00:17:52,419 Ping Yu: side? 243 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,860 Zee Ahmed: As I mildly said, it has a broad host range. 244 00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:01,360 Zee Ahmed: So, there's no doubt it's a polyphagous pest. 245 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,019 Zee Ahmed: It's not out. 246 00:18:04,139 --> 00:18:06,019 Zee Ahmed: It's going to hit a lot of host plants. 247 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:12,340 Zee Ahmed: But I want to re-emphasize on the Malvaceae family, which has cotton, hibiscus, okra. 248 00:18:13,260 --> 00:18:14,720 Zee Ahmed: Tom can also confirm that. 249 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,400 Zee Ahmed: It has a special preference for that. 250 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,200 Zee Ahmed: Yes, we know that family contain a lot of economically important crops, but... 251 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:30,400 Zee Ahmed: But then there is another family which is Solanaceae, which has eggplants and some other 252 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:31,240 Zee Ahmed: important crops. 253 00:18:31,799 --> 00:18:33,120 Zee Ahmed: It does feed on that too. 254 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:40,120 Zee Ahmed: So yes, polyphagous. Malvaceae and Solanaceae, these are important families where it can feed. 255 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,700 Zee Ahmed: And it might surprise us with some host plants which we are not familiar with. 256 00:18:46,380 --> 00:18:53,340 Zee Ahmed: Most of the literature on this pest from the Old World is actually from cotton growing regions 257 00:18:53,799 --> 00:18:57,740 Zee Ahmed: because that's the main crop in the native region of this pest. 258 00:18:58,139 --> 00:19:03,360 Zee Ahmed: So there are not many studies that were done on broader host range because people were so busy 259 00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:06,799 Zee Ahmed: because it was a huge problem in cotton, so they were so busy 260 00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:11,080 Zee Ahmed: dealing with the cotton and cotton is an important crop in its native region, 261 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:16,580 Zee Ahmed: they're not much done about exact host list about this pest. 262 00:19:16,610 --> 00:19:19,980 Zee Ahmed: So we're going to learn about it in the next few years. 263 00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:25,020 Tom Bilbo: Okra and eggplant are known to be at greatest risk. 264 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:30,500 Tom Bilbo: Okra really is getting hammered. For us, that seems to be highly preferred and highly susceptible. 265 00:19:31,299 --> 00:19:35,639 Tom Bilbo: I've been to farms that have both eggplant and okra have always been a lot worse. 266 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,659 Tom Bilbo: On okra, the numbers, it can really just get out of control. 267 00:19:39,820 --> 00:19:42,500 Tom Bilbo: And so a lot of our okra growers are having issues with it. 268 00:19:43,179 --> 00:19:45,779 Tom Bilbo: Left unmanaged, it's just completely killing plants. 269 00:19:46,980 --> 00:20:03,080 Tom Bilbo: Okra, which is, I mean, okra is a hardy vegetable. It's not known for being attacked by as many pests as some of these other vegetables are, but this is definitely a problem. And it can get into these fields really quickly. I planted a small little stand of okra here in the fall. 270 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:22,020 Tom Bilbo: And these okra were barely out of the ground and they were already covered by leafhoppers. And it's like, where did they come from? They just, they found the okra really quickly and they were killing that plant pretty quickly. So, but it's such a new pest. We have so much to learn about it. But yeah, the wide host range is of serious concern. 271 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:28,940 Ping Yu: Yeah, because I would assume this pest, similar to other invasive pests as well, they would 272 00:20:28,970 --> 00:20:34,940 Ping Yu: have a wide host range for attacking a lot of plants, but apparently they have their favorite 273 00:20:35,300 --> 00:20:35,960 Ping Yu: and preferences. 274 00:20:36,740 --> 00:20:43,500 Ping Yu: Am I getting right at this stage with all the knowledge that we know about this pest from 275 00:20:43,570 --> 00:20:46,840 Ping Yu: the vegetable side and hibiscus from the, well, 276 00:20:47,399 --> 00:20:49,720 Ping Yu: Okra and cotton from the vegetable side. 277 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:55,480 Ping Yu: And I don't know if cotton is categorized as vegetable. 278 00:20:56,070 --> 00:20:56,500 Ping Yu: But anyhow. 279 00:20:56,820 --> 00:20:59,159 Zee Ahmed: You might offend cotton people. 280 00:21:01,700 --> 00:21:02,139 Ping Yu: Oh, sorry. 281 00:21:02,250 --> 00:21:03,080 Ping Yu: Let me rephrase. 282 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:09,260 Ping Yu: So from the cotton commodity group, the cotton, and from the vegetable, okra, from the green 283 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,460 Ping Yu: industry, from the ornamental side, it'll be hibiscus. 284 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:20,240 Ping Yu: Those three are the most susceptible plants as of now with our knowledge about this plant. 285 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:20,919 Ping Yu: Is that right? 286 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:23,240 Zee Ahmed: So, yes, for sure. 287 00:21:23,260 --> 00:21:25,460 Zee Ahmed: For vegetable and cotton, what you mentioned is true. 288 00:21:25,740 --> 00:21:27,600 Zee Ahmed: And for hibiscus, it's also true. 289 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,039 Zee Ahmed: But I want to put a disclaimer here. 290 00:21:29,700 --> 00:21:36,860 Zee Ahmed: For hibiscus, the critical part is so far is what we are learning is hibiscus might be the 291 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:45,660 Zee Ahmed: driver to spread this because people buy hibiscus, they move hibiscus, they take them to landscape 292 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,120 Zee Ahmed: and then they take them closer to the field crop area, vegetable area. 293 00:21:50,669 --> 00:21:54,720 Zee Ahmed: One of the major concerns regarding the hibiscus is 294 00:21:55,419 --> 00:22:00,299 Zee Ahmed: It might play a very crucial role in its dispersal. 295 00:22:00,610 --> 00:22:01,679 Zee Ahmed: We are at early stage. 296 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:03,779 Zee Ahmed: This is still a pest of limited distribution. 297 00:22:04,559 --> 00:22:06,500 Zee Ahmed: Yes, hibiscus, it is a pest of hibiscus, 298 00:22:06,620 --> 00:22:10,740 Zee Ahmed: but why it is crucial to learn more about hibiscus at this stage 299 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:15,399 Zee Ahmed: because that might play a role in how quickly it's going to spread 300 00:22:15,490 --> 00:22:19,659 Zee Ahmed: and how we can mitigate its spread if we can control hibiscus, 301 00:22:19,919 --> 00:22:21,399 Zee Ahmed: control it on hibiscus faster. 302 00:22:22,519 --> 00:22:22,700 Zee Ahmed: Okay. 303 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:39,960 Ping Yu: Okay, and I could extend our knowledge a little bit by saying this pest might be in the cotton or in the okra and then spread or jumped into the hibiscus plant nearby. 304 00:22:40,289 --> 00:22:47,620 Ping Yu: Would that be a possible alternative pathway for the distribution of this as well? 305 00:22:48,260 --> 00:22:49,780 Ping Yu: Or it's vice versa? 306 00:22:50,919 --> 00:22:51,320 Ping Yu: Okay. 307 00:22:51,220 --> 00:22:56,840 Zee Ahmed: No, I didn't mean to say — I want to correct myself to make sure that I said the right statement. 308 00:22:56,890 --> 00:23:09,040 Zee Ahmed: So I'm not saying Hibiscus started the spread, but I'm just saying Hibiscus move around faster as compared to we're not going to move Okra from one house to another house, right? 309 00:23:09,380 --> 00:23:10,240 Zee Ahmed: We're not going to move it. 310 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:11,020 Ping Yu: Yeah, yeah, you're right. 311 00:23:11,140 --> 00:23:19,420 Zee Ahmed: So I didn't mean to say that it's coming from hibiscus, but I'm just saying hibiscus can be a plant which can move it around. 312 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:25,020 Zee Ahmed: Yes, it could be coming from hibiscus and then you move hibiscus from one area to another area. 313 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,000 Zee Ahmed: It could be coming from cotton to hibiscus and then you move hibiscus. 314 00:23:29,710 --> 00:23:33,340 Zee Ahmed: Because cotton and okra will most probably not going to move around. 315 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,180 Zee Ahmed: Hibiscus is going to be move around. 316 00:23:35,290 --> 00:23:35,940 Zee Ahmed: It's going to dry. 317 00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:38,300 Zee Ahmed: But it also could be any field area. 318 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,260 Zee Ahmed: Cotton, okra, hibiscus. 319 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:58,500 Ping Yu: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I get your point. I'm just, you know, depending on the nature of me being in the green industry. But I know what you're saying because of the distribution of ornamental plants that might be 320 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:07,860 Ping Yu: redistributing the pest to other areas because of the plant movement or the trade. 321 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:24,860 Ping Yu: But can you tell us a little bit about how growers can identify this pest in the field and how do they know if they have a pest issue? 322 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:33,940 Zee Ahmed: I think for vegetable and cotton, infestation, again, I think I will let Tom say about vegetable. 323 00:24:34,679 --> 00:24:37,260 Zee Ahmed: In general, for hibiscus, population doesn't grow. 324 00:24:37,659 --> 00:24:49,799 Zee Ahmed: This is, again, we just published an article in GrowerTalks, and we observed the biology on hibiscus is relatively slower as compared to what is published on cotton and okra. 325 00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:55,519 Zee Ahmed: So population at hibiscus may not grow as fast as on other plants. 326 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,820 Zee Ahmed: That's based on our very initial data. We are still in the process. 327 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,840 Zee Ahmed: And then, so it means in hibiscus, you will be finding population low 328 00:25:04,299 --> 00:25:07,820 Zee Ahmed: and the field guide which we provided in that article, 329 00:25:08,399 --> 00:25:10,779 Zee Ahmed: it starts with learning about its size. 330 00:25:11,059 --> 00:25:12,740 Zee Ahmed: So first thing you have to understand 331 00:25:13,340 --> 00:25:14,559 Zee Ahmed: how big it is, right? 332 00:25:15,070 --> 00:25:16,840 Zee Ahmed: Or technically I should say how small it is. 333 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,760 Zee Ahmed: And then second thing you wanna learn about 334 00:25:19,980 --> 00:25:21,919 Zee Ahmed: its symptoms, damage symptoms. 335 00:25:22,919 --> 00:25:25,559 Zee Ahmed: But the infestation at early stage, 336 00:25:25,970 --> 00:25:28,820 Zee Ahmed: you may, the damage symptoms may not appear. 337 00:25:29,340 --> 00:25:33,840 Zee Ahmed: So that's how we started scouting in the landscape 338 00:25:34,159 --> 00:25:37,240 Zee Ahmed: and there were successful incidents where we found it. 339 00:25:37,679 --> 00:25:40,399 Zee Ahmed: We started flipping the hibiscus leaf 340 00:25:40,740 --> 00:25:43,159 Zee Ahmed: starting from the middle to going upward. 341 00:25:43,940 --> 00:25:47,760 Zee Ahmed: And when you flip the leaf, 342 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:54,960 Zee Ahmed: You will see close to the mid rib, you will see the tiny, I'm talking about immature one, 343 00:25:55,090 --> 00:25:57,340 Zee Ahmed: because adults, they hop, it's hopper, right? 344 00:25:57,670 --> 00:26:00,240 Zee Ahmed: If you're going to flip the leaf, they're going to hop from one leaf to another leaf. 345 00:26:00,290 --> 00:26:04,220 Zee Ahmed: So you're most probably not going to easily see adult in the start, 346 00:26:04,710 --> 00:26:07,720 Zee Ahmed: unless you train your eyes, will take some time for that. 347 00:26:08,140 --> 00:26:12,140 Zee Ahmed: But you flip the leaf and they are immature, you will notice that 348 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:21,740 Zee Ahmed: They are like a tiny light yellowish thingy which will be less than two to three, between one to three millimeters in size. 349 00:26:22,140 --> 00:26:24,120 Zee Ahmed: They will move in a very funny way. 350 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,799 Zee Ahmed: And that's one way you're not going to see eggs. 351 00:26:29,260 --> 00:26:36,900 Zee Ahmed: So here another thing which I want to emphasize here, because they lay eggs inside the leaf. 352 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,980 Zee Ahmed: So, eggs are not visible, outside eggs are not very visible. 353 00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:52,600 Zee Ahmed: And we may be unknowingly, because we see there is no immature or adult, but eggs might, since eggs we cannot see, we might be... 354 00:26:53,539 --> 00:26:55,600 Zee Ahmed: unknowingly skipping its scouting. 355 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:56,960 Zee Ahmed: So we need a regular scouting. 356 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,600 Zee Ahmed: Because eggs hatch, say, between seven to six days, 357 00:27:01,179 --> 00:27:02,940 Zee Ahmed: six to seven days, or six, 358 00:27:03,380 --> 00:27:04,400 Zee Ahmed: actually in our case, you know, 359 00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:06,039 Zee Ahmed: hibiscus we found six to nine days. 360 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,100 Zee Ahmed: So you have to scout regularly 361 00:27:08,780 --> 00:27:10,140 Zee Ahmed: because once eggs are hatching, 362 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:10,820 Zee Ahmed: you will see immature, 363 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:12,559 Zee Ahmed: but you will not be able to see eggs 364 00:27:13,020 --> 00:27:19,000 Zee Ahmed: So I would refer every listener to check out our field guide in GrowerTalks. 365 00:27:19,250 --> 00:27:22,480 Zee Ahmed: We elaborated this description, diagnostic description. 366 00:27:22,650 --> 00:27:24,620 Ping Yu: We focused on hibiscus in that guide. 367 00:27:26,180 --> 00:27:27,380 Ping Yu: Have anything to add, Tom? 368 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:27,640 Ping Yu: Tom? 369 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:39,560 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, just that at the time being, we're still working out sampling plans and all that, but you'll just need to get out looking at plans, trying to find adults, find immatures. 370 00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:47,960 Tom Bilbo: My guess is we're probably going to see them at the edges of fields first in the sense of, you know, vegetable and cotton fields and all that. 371 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,660 Tom Bilbo: But again, we don't have, I don't think we have the transect sampling data yet. 372 00:27:52,700 --> 00:27:56,780 Tom Bilbo: conducted yet so a lot that we'll need to do but yeah i'll say let me say something about 373 00:27:57,020 --> 00:28:03,880 Tom Bilbo: sticky cards because we i didn't have any dedicated projects this past this fall but 374 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:09,820 Tom Bilbo: we incidentally kept finding them in different trials we had and so one of my PhD students, Sabina Parajuli, she had a zucchini trial and it had moderate infestations with 375 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:15,300 Tom Bilbo: perajuli she had a zucchini trial and it had moderate infestations with 376 00:28:16,059 --> 00:28:19,760 Tom Bilbo: two-spotted cotton leafhoppers. So, okay, so zucchini, that's one we haven't talked about yet. 377 00:28:20,519 --> 00:28:25,840 Tom Bilbo: That's a cucurbit crop. Why is it — it wasn't expected to see so many of them there. 378 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:32,460 Tom Bilbo: But from what we've seen here and from what our agents have said around the state is that a lot 379 00:28:32,460 --> 00:28:37,659 Tom Bilbo: of people are seeing these show up in cucurbits. We don't believe that they're a pest at this point, 380 00:28:37,940 --> 00:28:41,899 Tom Bilbo: but it's just yet another host, another reservoir for them to exist in. So, 381 00:28:43,179 --> 00:28:49,500 Tom Bilbo: So we had a zucchini trial and we had a lot of yellow sticky cards out there and the sticky cards caught a lot of two-spotted cotton leafhoppers. 382 00:28:50,140 --> 00:28:57,780 Tom Bilbo: And I just analyzed that data and the sticky card counts have a pretty strong correlation with the plant counts. 383 00:28:58,660 --> 00:29:04,760 Tom Bilbo: So at least in the case of zucchini, the sticky cards are reflecting what we're seeing on the leaves. 384 00:29:05,020 --> 00:29:09,580 Tom Bilbo: And so maybe an important monitoring tool and easier because this is such a small insect. 385 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:28,320 Tom Bilbo: You know, you don't have to be there turning around leaves and looking around plants and choosing the right leaf and all that stuff. So, so the sticky cards look like they're probably going to be a good monitoring tool. But again, we'll want to hammer that out for specific crops and to see what the sticky cards actually tell us. But, you know, you could probably stick them up at the edge of the fields and I have a sense that they would give you an early detection. 386 00:29:12,460 --> 00:29:12,580 Tom Bilbo: So. 387 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:37,040 Ping Yu: I'm glad you mentioned the sticky card because I was thinking while you guys are talking about the characteristics of this pest and being so small, 388 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:42,580 Ping Yu: now can growers effectively detect them or monitor them at an early stage? 389 00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:49,200 Ping Yu: Zee, do you know if anything has been done with the sticky card on the ornamental side? 390 00:29:49,870 --> 00:29:52,620 Ping Yu: Or is this something that we need to look into down the road? 391 00:29:54,260 --> 00:29:58,120 Zee Ahmed: I have not seen any data outside at this stage. 392 00:29:58,620 --> 00:30:02,279 Zee Ahmed: I'm sure there are folks, some of my colleagues, they are trying to work on it. 393 00:29:58,850 --> 00:29:58,980 Zee Ahmed: Yeah. 394 00:30:03,679 --> 00:30:10,100 Zee Ahmed: We did a visual count during our trial, but yes, I would also try to see down the road 395 00:30:10,779 --> 00:30:15,840 Zee Ahmed: if we can use potentially to detect them at early stage, especially in a nursery setting. 396 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:34,860 Ping Yu: Yeah, because I think that would be an essential step for growers to early detect and have a good scouting program for this pest specifically. But other than sticky cards, are there any handy 397 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:41,000 Ping Yu: tools that growers can use to help them identify for their scouting, 398 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:46,360 Ping Yu: like such as the handy lens or the hand lens, things like that? 399 00:30:49,060 --> 00:30:53,500 Zee Ahmed: At early infestation, a lens would be very helpful because there will be immatures 400 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,740 Zee Ahmed: and eggs will be hatching and they'll be first, second, and early instars. 401 00:30:58,159 --> 00:30:59,179 Zee Ahmed: So they are really small. 402 00:30:59,940 --> 00:31:01,539 Zee Ahmed: And yes, lens will be really helpful. 403 00:31:01,700 --> 00:31:06,440 Zee Ahmed: And I would suggest 10 to 30x lens, that would be very helpful. 404 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:11,200 Zee Ahmed: But once the infestation is established and it's going to be heavy infestation, 405 00:31:11,299 --> 00:31:15,740 Zee Ahmed: as I've seen in some vegetable fields, when infestation is heavy, 406 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,159 Zee Ahmed: you will see them right away. 407 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:30,780 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, they're small and so they can be hard to find, but they're bigger than for us that work with thrips and mites, which can be even a lot smaller. 408 00:31:31,060 --> 00:31:43,220 Tom Bilbo: And once you know what to look for and once you've been trained or you know what to look for with those spots and you have a hand lens to help you confirm, it's not the most difficult insect to kind of look for. 409 00:31:43,940 --> 00:31:47,160 Tom Bilbo: and ID, but it takes, you know, you got to kind of know what you're looking for. 410 00:31:47,420 --> 00:31:55,700 Ping Yu: Can you give us like a very clear and simple ways for growers to identify in the field? 411 00:31:56,220 --> 00:32:03,820 Ping Yu: Like, for instance, you guys briefly mentioned about the characteristics of this pest, the two spots and we need to identify. 412 00:32:03,460 --> 00:32:11,140 Ping Yu: flip the leaves upside and to look for, can you give us like a very short, sweet way for growers 413 00:32:11,420 --> 00:32:18,620 Ping Yu: to go look for when, where, what to look for in that regard so that they can have a very clear way 414 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,300 Ping Yu: to more accurately look for or identify this pest? 415 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:22,560 Ping Yu: [VERIFY: Possible Whisper artifact] 416 00:32:25,180 --> 00:32:26,100 Zee Ahmed: Do you want to go first? 417 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,860 Zee Ahmed: First thing I would do symptoms observation. 418 00:32:31,180 --> 00:32:39,340 Zee Ahmed: If I walk into a hibiscus nursery or hibiscus production area, I would start looking for symptoms. 419 00:32:39,420 --> 00:32:44,520 Zee Ahmed: symptoms because if there are symptoms that's probably one thing which I want to observe. 420 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:51,220 Zee Ahmed: Especially as I mentioned earlier the hopper burn symptoms, yellowing, wilting, curling, 421 00:32:51,860 --> 00:32:55,260 Zee Ahmed: Especially as I mentioned earlier, the hopper burn symptoms, yellowing, wilting, curling, 422 00:32:56,020 --> 00:32:58,660 Zee Ahmed: all those symptoms which generally appear on hibiscus when they have pests. 423 00:32:59,180 --> 00:33:15,120 Zee Ahmed: That's a very general symptom for most pests. 424 00:33:15,780 --> 00:33:18,420 Zee Ahmed: We want to help growers to be trained for that. 425 00:33:18,940 --> 00:33:20,660 Zee Ahmed: That's where I think they have to, 426 00:33:20,940 --> 00:33:22,420 Zee Ahmed: if I would be a grower, 427 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,140 Zee Ahmed: I would, or if I would be somebody who wants to scout, 428 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,180 Zee Ahmed: I would first equip myself with the available material. 429 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:31,020 Zee Ahmed: Here, one of them, 430 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:32,720 Zee Ahmed: I, as I mentioned earlier, field guide, 431 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:34,640 Zee Ahmed: which is, which we recently published, 432 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,180 Zee Ahmed: have that material with you. 433 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,040 Zee Ahmed: That I will do second thing. 434 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,180 Zee Ahmed: And then read that material carefully 435 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:41,460 Zee Ahmed: before you start scouting. 436 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:43,600 Zee Ahmed: And then at early stage, 437 00:33:44,340 --> 00:33:47,540 Zee Ahmed: As I mentioned, if there are only eggs, you're not going to see them. 438 00:33:48,490 --> 00:33:56,060 Zee Ahmed: But then if you come back after, say, a week or something, a week, at least a week, not at least, at maximum week. 439 00:33:56,330 --> 00:33:59,220 Zee Ahmed: So you should have come within the week and then check again. 440 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:06,560 Zee Ahmed: And if those eggs have hatched, you will see tiny light yellowish things on the underside of the leaf along the midrib. 441 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:08,560 Zee Ahmed: And they move very funny way. 442 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:11,960 Zee Ahmed: So they move from left and right for some reason. 443 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:16,600 Zee Ahmed: Observing them, make sure you should equip yourself with the available material 444 00:34:16,870 --> 00:34:21,540 Zee Ahmed: and then go in the field knowing that you may not find it right away. 445 00:34:21,870 --> 00:34:26,440 Zee Ahmed: But if you keep regular scouting within the seven days of previous scouting, 446 00:34:26,620 --> 00:34:28,700 Zee Ahmed: if they are eggs, if they are hatched, 447 00:34:28,700 --> 00:34:32,899 Zee Ahmed: you will find immatures moving on the underside of the leaf along the midrib. 448 00:34:35,780 --> 00:34:54,300 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, the only thing I would add is, and this is my kind of general advice for scouting vegetable fields in general is, if you have symptoms, if you know what you're looking for with the symptoms, then you can walk around and you can look for, if you have a sharp eye for those symptoms, you can cover a lot more ground that way looking when you're not stopping and turning over leaves. 449 00:34:55,220 --> 00:34:58,180 Tom Bilbo: You can cover a lot more area by going around and keeping a close eye for symptoms. 450 00:34:58,460 --> 00:35:02,420 Tom Bilbo: And then when you see any kind of yellowing or maybe curled leaves, then you can start turning over leaves. 451 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:02,900 Tom Bilbo: I... 452 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,980 Tom Bilbo: Or you can do it in a more controlled way where you are going to say, I'm going to do a transect across this field. 453 00:35:04,390 --> 00:35:04,480 Tom Bilbo: So, yeah. 454 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:13,940 Tom Bilbo: Make and try to look at the borders and the interior, turning over leaves every 10 plants or, you know, how big the field is. 455 00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:21,520 Tom Bilbo: But make sure to, especially until we know exactly the best places to look on each of these different host plants, is look at different plants. 456 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:22,720 Tom Bilbo: Don't just look at the oldest ones. 457 00:35:22,900 --> 00:35:23,880 Tom Bilbo: Don't just look at the newest ones. 458 00:35:24,140 --> 00:35:24,500 Tom Bilbo: But yeah. 459 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,520 Tom Bilbo: Make sure you're kind of looking at the whole plant because you may see them on some leaves and not others. 460 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,940 Tom Bilbo: So, yeah, that's what I would do. 461 00:35:31,700 --> 00:35:39,920 Ping Yu: So basically right now, we don't even know if this pest specifically prefers the new leaves or the older leaves or anything in between. 462 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:42,500 Ping Yu: Do you have any information on that? 463 00:35:45,060 --> 00:35:48,599 Tom Bilbo: You can see a lot of the, you know, when they're laying, like a lot of insects are laying eggs on leaves. 464 00:35:49,740 --> 00:35:58,320 Tom Bilbo: They'll lay the eggs, they may lay them on the newer leaves, and then by the time you start to see a lot of nymphs, those end up being, you know, maybe further down the plant or depending on the plant. 465 00:35:58,540 --> 00:36:04,940 Tom Bilbo: So you may see a lot more nymphs on older middle-aged leaves, and you may see more adults laying eggs on newer leaves. 466 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:12,280 Ping Yu: So basically, it's, it'll attack the whole plant with their different life stage. 467 00:36:16,620 --> 00:36:24,800 Ping Yu: But are there any available cultural practices that could potentially help reduce the pressure of the leafhopper? 468 00:36:25,340 --> 00:36:37,620 Zee Ahmed: I would say in a nursery setting, when inspect the plant, when plants are coming from outside for sure, anything coming out from outside has to be inspected, especially if it's hibiscus. 469 00:36:38,380 --> 00:36:43,120 Zee Ahmed: And I would also add here again, you cannot control eggs, right? 470 00:36:43,580 --> 00:36:47,760 Zee Ahmed: Eggs are there and you don't know if eggs are there because they are in the leaf. 471 00:36:48,720 --> 00:37:04,619 Zee Ahmed: And so that makes it a little more challenging to suggest what to do when we cannot even see if the pest is there. So I would, at this stage, say scouting, scouting, and scouting. Inspecting material which is coming inside. 472 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:11,140 Zee Ahmed: at this stage. We are hopeful we will have some data in the future about different varieties. 473 00:37:12,210 --> 00:37:16,099 Zee Ahmed: And so we can say this variety is less susceptible as compared to other ones. 474 00:37:17,130 --> 00:37:23,480 Zee Ahmed: There are some variety differences in other studies, so that would be helpful in the future. 475 00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:27,800 Zee Ahmed: Again, not much to say. We are still learning about this pest. 476 00:37:28,180 --> 00:37:31,240 Zee Ahmed: I'm talking about just the ornamental nursery production side. 477 00:37:33,220 --> 00:37:36,920 Zee Ahmed: I wish I could say more about it, yeah, about cultural practices. 478 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:41,760 Ping Yu: What about from the vegetable side, Tom? 479 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:47,360 Tom Bilbo: By being, we don't have anything concrete. 480 00:37:47,500 --> 00:37:48,520 Tom Bilbo: I 481 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:53,560 Tom Bilbo: We, there was a lot of ideas, you know, I think we'll know a lot more after next field 482 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,440 Tom Bilbo: season when we actually had a chance to do things, but, but in general, like a lot of 483 00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,080 Tom Bilbo: pests, you want to conserve natural enemies. 484 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:05,120 Tom Bilbo: We, that we don't have a lot of good biocontrol studies done for this, for this insect, especially 485 00:38:05,180 --> 00:38:06,380 Tom Bilbo: in the U S in the U S. 486 00:38:06,580 --> 00:38:11,320 Tom Bilbo: But there was a lot of, there was a lot of predators hanging around these plants, you 487 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:12,040 Tom Bilbo: know, lady beetles. 488 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:20,800 Tom Bilbo: and some others. And so they were probably eating some of these. So it's always good practice to try 489 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:25,760 Tom Bilbo: to conserve those beneficial predators and parasitoids. And the easiest way to do that 490 00:38:26,420 --> 00:38:28,780 Tom Bilbo: is to not spray broad-spectrum insecticides. 491 00:38:29,820 --> 00:38:35,340 Tom Bilbo: So, and I believe from the insecticide trial that's been done, say the pyrethroids are 492 00:38:35,350 --> 00:38:38,400 Tom Bilbo: a classic case of broad spectrum known for killing natural enemies. 493 00:38:39,370 --> 00:38:43,120 Tom Bilbo: I don't, generally I don't think they're looking to be that effective anyways compared to other 494 00:38:43,420 --> 00:38:47,740 Tom Bilbo: products, other modes of action, but avoiding the broad spectrum use, try to conserve natural 495 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:52,440 Tom Bilbo: enemies, let them help you as much as they can and hopefully we'll develop more targeted 496 00:38:52,660 --> 00:38:53,480 Tom Bilbo: bio-control strategies. 497 00:38:54,799 --> 00:38:56,359 Tom Bilbo: But we have a lot to learn. 498 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:02,119 Ping Yu: I think that's, well, that's job security we're talking about right now with all those things with this pest. 499 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:10,599 Ping Yu: But in general, I think, well, in the vegetable side, I guess there's not so many to do, especially with the plants are... 500 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:12,680 Ping Yu: in the ground, we can move. 501 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:16,240 Ping Yu: But for nursery settings, most of the plants are in containers. 502 00:39:16,510 --> 00:39:17,940 Ping Yu: We can move them around. 503 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:26,320 Ping Yu: I don't know if we have enough data yet to see if any of the spacing or mulching 504 00:39:26,660 --> 00:39:34,280 Ping Yu: or pruning might be some ways to potentially reduce the pressure of the pest in general 505 00:39:34,430 --> 00:39:36,700 Ping Yu: because we have seen some... 506 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:39,839 Ping Yu: similar trends on other pests. 507 00:39:40,050 --> 00:39:43,220 Ping Yu: So they might potentially provide 508 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,599 Ping Yu: additional ways for managing this pest. 509 00:39:47,050 --> 00:39:49,839 Ping Yu: But again, we don't have solid data yet. 510 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:51,980 Tom Bilbo: There's a lot that we may be able to leverage 511 00:39:52,420 --> 00:39:54,000 Tom Bilbo: disrupting their ability to find fields 512 00:39:54,460 --> 00:39:55,800 Tom Bilbo: or maybe plants and nurseries 513 00:39:55,810 --> 00:39:56,579 Tom Bilbo: or something like that, 514 00:39:56,630 --> 00:39:58,220 Tom Bilbo: you know, different kinds of mulches, 515 00:39:58,400 --> 00:39:59,040 Tom Bilbo: reflective mulches. 516 00:39:59,700 --> 00:40:00,079 Tom Bilbo: We did. 517 00:40:00,740 --> 00:40:02,040 Tom Bilbo: It's very preliminary, 518 00:40:02,380 --> 00:40:04,060 Tom Bilbo: but my student, you know, 519 00:40:04,060 --> 00:40:04,900 Tom Bilbo: in that zucchini trial, 520 00:40:05,420 --> 00:40:12,960 Tom Bilbo: Two of the main treatments were those that had a lot of habitat complexity due to cover crop residue surrounding the plants. 521 00:40:13,569 --> 00:40:17,220 Tom Bilbo: Those had less leafhoppers than those that were just bare ground. 522 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:24,359 Tom Bilbo: And so if that repeats next year and we see significantly reduced numbers in those cover crop habitat treatments, 523 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:40,420 Tom Bilbo: We try to get out why that is. Is it disrupting their preference for those plants or is it increasing biocontrol or some other mechanism? But a lot of folks are going to be doing a lot of research on this in the next year. Some promising areas, promising angles to attack this pest from. 524 00:40:40,980 --> 00:40:45,420 Ping Yu: Yeah, because the reason why I asked about this is because we found a pretty interesting 525 00:40:45,799 --> 00:40:48,380 Ping Yu: results from one of the ongoing works that we're doing. 526 00:40:48,619 --> 00:40:53,680 Ping Yu: My student who was working on thrips parvispinus, and she's looking at different horticultural 527 00:40:53,839 --> 00:40:55,420 Ping Yu: practices to manage this pest. 528 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:02,380 Ping Yu: And one of the ongoing trial that she did with the mulch trial, she did find effective 529 00:41:03,140 --> 00:41:06,839 Ping Yu: way of using mulch to reduce the population of the pest. 530 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:14,700 Ping Yu: So I'm relating to the new pest because, well, it's a different pest, but there are certain, like the concept would relate. 531 00:41:14,910 --> 00:41:30,600 Ping Yu: So I was thinking maybe down the road, if we could do some trials on that, from that angle, we could potentially develop some effective ways from like the horticultural practices or cultural practices to better manage this pest. 532 00:41:31,660 --> 00:41:32,120 Ping Yu: Yeah. 533 00:41:33,140 --> 00:41:49,839 Ping Yu: So, Zee, I know that you mentioned a lot about the GrowerTalks field guide. And can you elaborate and talk to us a little bit more about the hibiscus trial that you did and just share some of the results with our listeners today? 534 00:41:50,620 --> 00:41:58,520 Zee Ahmed: So we just finished it, four weeks count, and we are in the process to analyze that. 535 00:41:59,100 --> 00:42:04,660 Zee Ahmed: The work which we brought online as soon as we could in GrowerTalks, because that was 536 00:42:04,660 --> 00:42:11,160 Zee Ahmed: in high demand, they needed something at this stage so they can, especially talking about 537 00:42:11,340 --> 00:42:14,680 Zee Ahmed: growers, they needed something so they have some information. 538 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,900 Zee Ahmed: So we used six treatments. 539 00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:25,660 Zee Ahmed: based on IRAC groups, different mode of action, including contact, translaminar, systemic material, 540 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:32,360 Zee Ahmed: and the idea was to see if we can find groups which are effective and can be rotated. 541 00:42:33,180 --> 00:42:38,800 Zee Ahmed: The results are for 14 days, they are a treatment. So the data after treatment for 542 00:42:38,890 --> 00:42:44,000 Zee Ahmed: 14 days is available in that Grow Talks article, but we are in the process to finish the 543 00:42:44,060 --> 00:42:46,440 Zee Ahmed: final version for whole research. 544 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:51,940 Zee Ahmed: So if I have to summarize that, we think there is a way to control it. 545 00:42:52,100 --> 00:42:54,700 Zee Ahmed: It's not, it's not, sky is not falling. 546 00:42:54,980 --> 00:42:58,340 Zee Ahmed: We can control this pest based on our trial. 547 00:42:58,940 --> 00:43:02,240 Zee Ahmed: And we did mention about the effective treatments in that trial. 548 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:08,780 Zee Ahmed: The thing which I want to emphasize here is matching the treatment based on the life stages. 549 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:10,780 Zee Ahmed: That's something is very important. 550 00:43:11,100 --> 00:43:17,020 Zee Ahmed: We should not be expecting that all treatments or all chemicals you're going to use will control 551 00:43:17,180 --> 00:43:17,760 Zee Ahmed: all life stages. 552 00:43:18,180 --> 00:43:19,360 Zee Ahmed: So that's something I want to emphasize. 553 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,900 Zee Ahmed: And as our translaminars... 554 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:28,700 Zee Ahmed: We think and systemic, they performed better against Nymphs which are feeding. 555 00:43:30,740 --> 00:43:32,599 Zee Ahmed: So they're a really good result. 556 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:37,160 Zee Ahmed: I would suggest people to look at that data in that GrowerTalks article. 557 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:44,299 Zee Ahmed: And we were really hopeful that we can knock the population down at good level based on the products which are available. 558 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:53,600 Ping Yu: I will make sure to add the link to the show notes so people can click on that and look for more information on that. 559 00:43:53,780 --> 00:44:03,000 Ping Yu: But you mentioned a key point here that the life stage of the leafhopper is critical for controlling this pest. 560 00:44:03,420 --> 00:44:11,520 Ping Yu: Which life cycle or which stage of this pest is the nymph phase or adult phase most susceptible? 561 00:44:12,380 --> 00:44:19,560 Ping Yu: Or if I put that other way, is the stage that people would target when applying any of the treatments? 562 00:44:20,940 --> 00:44:22,839 Zee Ahmed: So this is what we did on hibiscus. 563 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:26,299 Zee Ahmed: So story can be different when you're dealing with raw crops. 564 00:44:26,799 --> 00:44:31,539 Zee Ahmed: So we noticed that we can knock down adult with most of product. 565 00:44:32,380 --> 00:44:33,640 Zee Ahmed: We were excited to see that. 566 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:35,599 Zee Ahmed: So when it comes to immature, 567 00:44:36,540 --> 00:44:39,300 Zee Ahmed: Again, I want to re-emphasize, we're talking about here ornamentals. 568 00:44:39,820 --> 00:44:44,520 Zee Ahmed: And ornamentals, we want to make sure growers can sell it without the pest on it. 569 00:44:44,790 --> 00:44:50,740 Zee Ahmed: So we have a small window to control it and make sure we can sell it without, 570 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,760 Zee Ahmed: because we know consumers have zero tolerance for pest. 571 00:44:54,300 --> 00:44:58,640 Zee Ahmed: And so we wanted to have the products which we used, 572 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:05,140 Zee Ahmed: There are different mode of action and susceptibility obviously in general, if you talk about insects, 573 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:07,400 Zee Ahmed: immatures are more susceptible. 574 00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:11,620 Zee Ahmed: They usually stay on the leaf, they don't really go far. 575 00:45:12,300 --> 00:45:19,280 Zee Ahmed: And in this case, adult hops move from one place to another place and their dispersibility is more than immatures. 576 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:25,020 Zee Ahmed: But then we're talking about growers where we want them to control our life stages so 577 00:45:25,060 --> 00:45:27,180 Zee Ahmed: they can sell plants without pests. 578 00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:30,140 Zee Ahmed: So we're targeting our life stages. 579 00:45:30,580 --> 00:45:32,900 Zee Ahmed: We want to target adults, we want to target immature. 580 00:45:33,540 --> 00:45:39,980 Zee Ahmed: We have our trial basically saying that if there are more immatures, then you have this 581 00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:41,360 Zee Ahmed: product which you should apply. 582 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:44,540 Zee Ahmed: And if there are more adults, you should integrate this product with that. 583 00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:46,480 Zee Ahmed: to knock them down. 584 00:45:47,099 --> 00:45:49,559 Zee Ahmed: And then you have to follow up spray too 585 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:51,700 Zee Ahmed: and follow up scouting as well. 586 00:45:51,799 --> 00:45:53,599 Zee Ahmed: Because if I am doing spray today 587 00:45:54,020 --> 00:45:55,920 Zee Ahmed: and I knock the population down 588 00:45:56,740 --> 00:45:58,980 Zee Ahmed: and there are eggs which are there today, 589 00:45:59,220 --> 00:46:00,240 Zee Ahmed: I'm not going to kill them. 590 00:46:00,619 --> 00:46:01,619 Zee Ahmed: And they're going to hatch. 591 00:46:02,180 --> 00:46:06,480 Zee Ahmed: So, in that kind of scenario, we need a translaminar and systemic action. 592 00:46:06,570 --> 00:46:13,740 Zee Ahmed: If eggs are hatching next week, seven days or 10 days from now on, they will not feed 593 00:46:13,900 --> 00:46:18,320 Zee Ahmed: or if they feed, they will get the lethal dose in their body so we can have an effective 594 00:46:18,660 --> 00:46:18,760 Zee Ahmed: result. 595 00:46:19,260 --> 00:46:25,240 Zee Ahmed: If we strategize it, it can be controlled based on our result at this stage on hibiscus 596 00:46:25,350 --> 00:46:26,720 Zee Ahmed: If we strategize it, it can be controlled based on our results at this stage on hibiscus in ornamental settings. 597 00:46:28,940 --> 00:46:32,300 Zee Ahmed: Can I ask Tom because I want to see if he can add on. 598 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:39,320 Zee Ahmed: If we are using a translaminar in ornamental settings, would you suggest translaminar, systemic and vegetable as well? 599 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:52,120 Tom Bilbo: There's a lot of benefits from a pest management standpoint, yes, to translaminar and systemic because it can help you gain access to parts of the planet that can be difficult to reach. 600 00:46:52,960 --> 00:47:12,060 Tom Bilbo: So now depending on the on the crop, you know, some crops you got to be you want you got to be extra careful about pollinators and all that. And but yeah, generally, yeah, the translaminars and systemics can can help you out a lot by kind of getting, you know, the product can kind of get into those nooks and crannies better. 601 00:47:13,500 --> 00:47:19,080 Tom Bilbo: So for a pest that's going to be on the underside of the leaves, then you got to get good penetration of the spray and the canopy. 602 00:47:20,100 --> 00:47:28,840 Ping Yu: Oh, I was asking, so from the vegetable side, do we, for the growers also need to target all stages of the pest when they apply? 603 00:47:30,060 --> 00:47:46,900 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, I mean, like Z said, nymphs are always more susceptible. If you can get adults, that'd be great. What it seems like, if it's anything, if next year is anything like this year, they're going to be everywhere. And if you're growing something like okra, that's highly susceptible, you're going to have pest issues at some point. 604 00:47:47,960 --> 00:48:06,900 Tom Bilbo: So again, I'm really curious what's going to happen with the overwintering this year and what we see next year. So we'll keep a close eye on things throughout the year when the problems really emerge. But yeah, but if it's anything like this year, you're like guaranteed to have problems if you're an okra grower in the lower half of the state. So it's just a matter of when they're going to be there. And you want to... 605 00:48:08,180 --> 00:48:10,140 Tom Bilbo: if you're basing it off of this year, 606 00:48:10,170 --> 00:48:11,260 Tom Bilbo: then the numbers are going to get very severe. 607 00:48:11,750 --> 00:48:13,180 Tom Bilbo: And so you want to manage them 608 00:48:13,309 --> 00:48:15,359 Tom Bilbo: before it's a total outbreak situation. 609 00:48:16,260 --> 00:48:18,359 Tom Bilbo: So you got to get out in fields at least once a week. 610 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:21,640 Tom Bilbo: And when you start to see populations establish and build, 611 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:24,779 Tom Bilbo: then you got to know what you're going to put out there. 612 00:48:24,970 --> 00:48:25,880 Tom Bilbo: And you should probably have 613 00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:31,720 Tom Bilbo: multiple, like have your rotation lined up from the products that we do know have some efficacy. 614 00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:41,460 Ping Yu: Are there any other steps or practices that growers need to incorporate for what they have for other pests into their IPM program? 615 00:48:43,420 --> 00:48:48,700 Zee Ahmed: At this stage, we have knowledge based on what has been done in other parts of the world. 616 00:48:49,580 --> 00:48:53,460 Zee Ahmed: And we have chemical control options which people used in other parts of the world. 617 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:57,000 Zee Ahmed: The thing which you are lacking is biological control. 618 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:01,000 Zee Ahmed: We don't have much information about the biological control. 619 00:49:01,740 --> 00:49:04,640 Zee Ahmed: As you already asked us about the culture control option, 620 00:49:04,820 --> 00:49:08,200 Zee Ahmed: we have a culture control option based on common sense, 621 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,620 Zee Ahmed: based on the knowledge which we got from other pests. 622 00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,720 Zee Ahmed: But specific to this pest, we still don't know. 623 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:20,720 Zee Ahmed: Cropping season, planting time, and varieties which are resistant, less susceptible. 624 00:49:21,580 --> 00:49:24,480 Zee Ahmed: And then the products which can be rotated, 625 00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:33,260 Zee Ahmed: in the way that we can use them across three disciplines, across three crops, cotton, vegetable, and hibiscus, 626 00:49:33,460 --> 00:49:37,480 Zee Ahmed: because the availability of products, what we will have, we can use. 627 00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,540 Zee Ahmed: There's a lot to learn about this pest at this stage. 628 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:43,240 Zee Ahmed: So, again, answer would be we don't know much. 629 00:49:43,620 --> 00:49:43,760 Ping Yu: Yeah. 630 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:52,580 Ping Yu: I guess that brings to my next question. 631 00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:54,000 Ping Yu: what is your plan 632 00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:54,580 Ping Yu: what is your 633 00:49:54,820 --> 00:50:01,720 Ping Yu: next excitement for this pest in relating to your research side and extension side. 634 00:50:04,340 --> 00:50:09,060 Zee Ahmed: So far in South Carolina, we are collaborating very closely. 635 00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:12,140 Zee Ahmed: Tom, he's working on the vegetable side. 636 00:50:12,660 --> 00:50:14,220 Zee Ahmed: I am working on the ornamental side. 637 00:50:14,220 --> 00:50:15,020 Zee Ahmed: We have Dr. 638 00:50:15,700 --> 00:50:19,760 Zee Ahmed: Francis Reay-Jones, Dr. Jeremy Green, they both are working on the cotton side. 639 00:50:20,130 --> 00:50:24,260 Zee Ahmed: So our target is we first coordinate efforts. 640 00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:22,580 Zee Ahmed: [VERIFY: Possible Whisper artifact] 641 00:50:24,550 --> 00:50:24,780 Zee Ahmed: [VERIFY: Possible Whisper artifact] 642 00:50:24,780 --> 00:50:26,280 Zee Ahmed: That's our first aim, next step. 643 00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,140 Zee Ahmed: We want to coordinate within this state. 644 00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:36,140 Zee Ahmed: Second step is that we also in the process to make a working group across different states in Southeast. 645 00:50:37,020 --> 00:50:40,800 Zee Ahmed: We have already applied and Ping and Tom, you guys are part of that group. 646 00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:44,280 Zee Ahmed: We want to have our coordinated efforts. 647 00:50:45,140 --> 00:50:47,180 Zee Ahmed: I'm talking about a bigger picture at this stage. 648 00:50:47,620 --> 00:50:54,240 Zee Ahmed: So we want to make sure what I am doing in South Carolina, as my colleagues are doing Florida and some colleagues are doing Georgia. 649 00:50:54,380 --> 00:51:02,460 Zee Ahmed: We coordinate this all very well that we can plan this as a collective and collaboratively. 650 00:51:02,980 --> 00:51:04,760 Zee Ahmed: That's our bigger, bigger plan. 651 00:51:05,140 --> 00:51:08,600 Zee Ahmed: And we're really hoping that we can establish this working group. 652 00:51:09,020 --> 00:51:16,779 Zee Ahmed: This will tremendously help to mitigate the pest dispersal, will help our growers. 653 00:51:17,109 --> 00:51:21,819 Zee Ahmed: And we're producing an extension-based article as well. I will publish in GrowerTalks. 654 00:51:22,510 --> 00:51:24,819 Zee Ahmed: And a lot of material is coming through the website. 655 00:51:26,140 --> 00:51:30,120 Zee Ahmed: social media, helping people, making sure people are aware. 656 00:51:30,900 --> 00:51:35,660 Zee Ahmed: And we are in the process to do a lab bioassay in my lab 657 00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:40,240 Zee Ahmed: to see the efficacy, maybe at a deeper level. 658 00:51:40,900 --> 00:51:42,520 Zee Ahmed: We just finished the plant bioassay. 659 00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:47,540 Zee Ahmed: So these two projects at this time, we're doing in my lab in a 660 00:51:47,780 --> 00:51:48,140 Zee Ahmed: ornamental setting. 661 00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:52,500 Zee Ahmed: And again, my focus is to make sure we have a coordinated effort. 662 00:51:52,980 --> 00:51:56,360 Zee Ahmed: That's something we need for almost all invasive species. 663 00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:59,820 Zee Ahmed: And I'm hoping we will be successful in that. 664 00:52:01,940 --> 00:52:02,160 Tom Bilbo: Sure. 665 00:52:02,860 --> 00:52:13,220 Tom Bilbo: Yeah, the working group will be great because having the collaboration — that's the only way we can as quickly as possible generate a variety of recommendations. 666 00:52:13,740 --> 00:52:14,820 Tom Bilbo: So yeah. 667 00:52:14,420 --> 00:52:36,640 Tom Bilbo: Not every one of us can do everything. So having different people work on different things, we can quickly come up with a list of we'll know that, hey, these eight insecticides are going to be your bets to choose from. These are better early season. These are better late season. Maybe if we get some like the like mulch work, like, oh, maybe reflective mulches or white mulches or black mulches tend to be more or less susceptible. 668 00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:39,500 Tom Bilbo: these cultivars seem to be more or less susceptible. 669 00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:42,920 Tom Bilbo: So we'll hopefully start to piece together as much helpful information as 670 00:52:43,180 --> 00:52:43,300 Tom Bilbo: possible. 671 00:52:43,910 --> 00:52:45,880 Tom Bilbo: And then of course we need to get that information out there. 672 00:52:46,100 --> 00:52:49,760 Tom Bilbo: So making sure growers are aware of this pest and knowing what to look for so 673 00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:50,100 Tom Bilbo: that, 674 00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:52,700 Tom Bilbo: so that they can management and so that they're doing it the right way. 675 00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:53,160 Tom Bilbo: And, 676 00:52:53,420 --> 00:52:54,100 Tom Bilbo: and in the short term, 677 00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:57,340 Tom Bilbo: that's coming up with curative solutions like insecticides and, 678 00:52:57,620 --> 00:53:07,580 Tom Bilbo: making sure that they know what the pest is and they're applying what we know to be effective and not going out there wasting money and causing undue damage by spraying the wrong product for the wrong pest or whatnot. 679 00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:07,280 Tom Bilbo: and, 680 00:53:07,820 --> 00:53:12,720 Tom Bilbo: This fall, a lot of people didn't realize what the problem was until one of our agents would get out there and be like, you have the new invasive. 681 00:53:12,940 --> 00:53:14,500 Tom Bilbo: It's here. That's what's causing it. It's not. 682 00:53:15,260 --> 00:53:16,420 Tom Bilbo: aphids, it's not whiteflies. 683 00:53:16,770 --> 00:53:20,099 Tom Bilbo: So with the specialists and the county agents and taking a collaborative effort, 684 00:53:20,309 --> 00:53:22,380 Tom Bilbo: getting the word out there, it's going to be important. 685 00:53:22,470 --> 00:53:25,559 Tom Bilbo: But I think, yeah, I'm feeling optimistic that we can come up with some good 686 00:53:26,339 --> 00:53:27,220 Tom Bilbo: approaches pretty soon. 687 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:31,380 Ping Yu: I think working as a team can really make a difference. 688 00:53:31,700 --> 00:53:35,360 Ping Yu: move fast and can piece together with the puzzle faster. 689 00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:41,240 Ping Yu: And thank you both Tom and Zee for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us 690 00:53:41,380 --> 00:53:46,320 Ping Yu: and providing all those insightful information to our audience today. 691 00:53:46,760 --> 00:53:52,140 Ping Yu: And thank you for all the work that you're doing to help our growers and our stakeholders out there. 692 00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:53,080 Ping Yu: So thank you. 693 00:53:54,020 --> 00:54:12,780 Zee Ahmed: Thank you for inviting us. And I really want to say here that the efforts you're doing are going to have so much impact because this kind of information needs to be spread faster and the way you are doing it. 694 00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:16,080 Zee Ahmed: This is the new way and people are listening to it. 695 00:54:16,660 --> 00:54:18,100 Zee Ahmed: And thank you again for inviting us. 696 00:54:23,420 --> 00:54:26,420 Ping Yu: Conversation like this only happens when you support the show. 697 00:54:26,900 --> 00:54:29,500 Ping Yu: For more information and find ways to support us, 698 00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:32,640 Ping Yu: Please go to bandbpod.com. 699 00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:35,400 Ping Yu: bandbpod.com. 700 00:54:35,900 --> 00:54:41,260 Ping Yu: If you like what you are hearing, spread the word and share this podcast with the people you love. 701 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:46,820 Ping Yu: Make sure you hit that subscription button and give a review for the podcast. 702 00:54:47,680 --> 00:54:57,440 Ping Yu: And as always, go check out the show notes to learn more about this topic and other topics we featured on the show at bandbpod.com. 703 00:54:57,960 --> 00:54:58,680 Ping Yu: Thank you for listening. 704 00:54:59,039 --> 00:55:01,859 Ping Yu: Till the next time, stay healthy and go plants.