Allothrombium mitchelli (Acari: Trombidiidae) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Incidence, seasonality, and predation on beech scale (Homoptera: Eriococcidae)
Wiggins GJ, Grant JF, Welbourn WC. 2001. Allothrombium mitchelli (Acari: Trombidiidae) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Incidence, seasonality, and predation on beech scale (Homoptera: Eriococcidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 94(6):896-901
American beech gaps in the southern Appalachian Mountains are currently threatened by an insect-mediated disease complex known as beech bark disease. Beech scale, which wounds trees through feeding on vascular tissue through the outer cambium, is a major component of beech bark disease. Allothrombium mitchelli is one of only a few species that has been observed to feed consistently on beech scale, although their status as a biological control agent of beech scale is uncertain.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Wiggins, Gregory; Grant, Jerome; Welbourn, W.
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Allothrombium mitchelli, American beech, APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, beech bark disease, Cryptococcus fagisuga, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, GRSM-00587, SER, Southeast Region, Trombidiidae