US: First potato psyllids arrive in Eastern Idaho

Potato growers throughout Eastern Idaho are starting insecticidal programs to protect their crops from zebra chip disease following the recent confirmation of potato psyllids in the region. The tiny, winged insects can harbor the Liberibacter bacterium that causes zebra chip — a crop disease that forms bands in tuber flesh that darken during frying. The University of Idaho has conducted an extensive potato psyllid scouting program since 2012, which was the season after the disease first surfaced in the Pacific Northwest. During the week ending July 2, UI Extension entomologist Erik Wenninger, who administers Idaho’s monitoring program, said psyllids were found in a quarter of the 97 fields where sticky traps have been deployed to capture the pests. More