BUG BATTLE DESIGNED TO WIPE OUT APHID POPULATION.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer It's a bug-eat-bug world out there - and that's a good thing if you're near an ash tree whose tender young leaves are being devoured by pesky white flies and woolly aphids. Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, city arborist Omar Davis is in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a four-week battle to eradicate the pests. His weapon? About 100,000 lacewings - delicate green-winged good bugs and their larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. that make a feast of the bad bugs. On Friday, Davis let loose hundreds of the lacewings and their eggs in the ash trees outside the city's field services office on Rye Canyon Road. The flies and aphids had created a white haze there, with hundreds resting on parked cars. ``Last week, their populations began to explode,'' Davis said of the pests. ``Wherever there's ash trees, you'll see them.'' The season's heavy rain - nearly 50 inches in Santa Clarita - resulted in a fungus months back that killed the tender young ash leaves as they sprouted in the spring, Davis said. Now, the trees are again getting new growth and with summer's warm temperatures the conditions are prime for white fly and aphid infestations. The beneficial insects came from Bueno Biosystems in Fillmore, which breeds bugs for natural pest control. Bueno is also supplying lacewings to Beverly Hills and Long Beach, as much of Southern California comes under siege from the parasites. The larvae are the real enemy of the pests, consuming up to 400 aphids in the two weeks before maturing to their adult stage. The battle of the bugs is preferable to spraying trees because it treats a wider area as the lacewings and their offspring travel tree to tree, Davis said. It's also a long-term strategy because the bug-eating bugs will reproduce over several years, controlling the white fly and woolly aphid populations, he added. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Davis notes that the white flies and aphids produce a saplike excretion that drops from the trees they infest in·fest v. 1. To live as a parasite in or on tissues or organs or on the skin and its appendages. 2. To inhabit or overrun in numbers large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious. . It's easily removable from skin, clothing and cars with soap and water, he said. He also cautioned residents against removing the foot-long cardboard cylinders placed by the city in ash trees, the containers that hold the lacewings and the eggs they have laid in transit. In some cases, white paper sheets holding the larvae and marked ``Bio-Tab'' will be placed in trees for 10 days. Those, too, should be left alone. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color in Simi and SAC Editions only) Omar Davis, Santa Clarita city arborist, releases lacewing lacewing Any of numerous species of insects in the order Neuroptera, especially those in the green lacewing and brown lacewing families. The green lacewing has long, delicate antennae, a slender greenish body, golden- or copper-coloured eyes, and two pairs of veined wings. flies Friday near a tree, in the hope that they will reduce an aphid infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. . (2--Ran in Conejo Edition only) Wooly wool·y adj. & n. Variant of woolly. Adj. 1. wooly - having a fluffy character or appearance flocculent, woolly soft - yielding readily to pressure or weight 2. aphids rest on the hood of a vehicle Friday in Valencia. John Lazar/Special to the Daily News |
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