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Abstract
Rhodesgrass mealybug, Antonina graminis Maskell (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is an invasive pest of turfgrass. Their feeding on putting greens causes yellowing and eventual turfgrass mortality which affect the aesthetics and playability of golf. Because little is known on the phenology and integrated pest management for A. graminis, a series of studies were conducted to develop integrated pest management (IPM) tactics for A. graminis on the putting greens. The phenology data from 2019 to 2022 suggest that the A. graminis population remained at low densities in the spring until June or July, when high densities of all stages of A. graminis were observed. Antonina graminis population declined by October to nondetectable levels. In 2021 and 2022, among six trap types evaluated to determine a potential sampling tool for crawlers on the putting greens, the paper-folded sticky card method consistently collected greater numbers of crawlers after placing sticky cards on the putting green surface than those sampled from grass plugs or other remainingmethods. Acephate, flupyradifurone, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam achieved greater and more consistent reduction in A. graminis abundance than other insecticides in multiple experiments. A single application of flupyradifurone during the early summer (June or July only treatments) did not reduce the A. graminis densities or improve turfgrass quality, whereas a single application in late summer (August only treatment) reduced A. graminis densities and improved turfgrass quality for at least 30 d post-application. The results show that applying a high dose of N fertilizer improved turfgrass quality without increasing A. graminis densities on the golf course green. Although flupyradifurone application reduced A. graminis densities regardless of N fertilizer treatments, suppression of A. graminis densities improved at the high fertilizer dose with flupyradifurone. The numbers of A. graminis were not significantly affected by rolling treatment in the 2021 and 2022 experiments. Similarly, the sand topdressing alone had no significant effect on the A. graminis densities on the putting greens. The numbers of A. graminis were significantly lower for the insecticide (thiamethoxam) and combination of sand topdressing + insecticide treatment than for the nontreated treatment.