Australia: Autumn surveillance round for tomato potato psyllid complete

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in West Australia has wrapped up autumn surveillance for the tomato potato psyllid (TPP), with no detections of a damaging plant bacteria associated with the pest. Department acting horticulture director Rohan Prince said it marked completion of the third surveillance round in WA since the pest insect was detected in Perth in February last year. TPP is a tiny sap-sucking insect that affects a range of plants including tomato, potato, capsicum, chilli, eggplant and tamarillo. The detection of TPP has impacted on trade of a range of host plants and produce to other states, in particular potatoes which have been unable to enter these markets. This has been due to concerns about the status of the damaging plant bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), which can be associated with this pest in other parts of the world. More