On May 14 at 12:30 p.m., Paloma Dadlani — a graduate student under Dr. Mark Hoddle who has been spearheading avocado lace bug research funded by the California Avocado Commission — will deliver her master's thesis defense seminar. Interested California avocado growers can view the thesis defense online or attend in person at the UC Riverside Entomology Building located at 165 Citrus Drive, Riverside, CA.  

The thesis covers the following topics:

• Effects of temperature on developmental and reproductive biology, and degree-day models. This work helps predict development times in the field and will inform growers on possible levels of control from hot weather events.
• Two years of population phenology data from four commercial Hass avocado orchards in San Diego County, and surveys for ALB on non-Hass avocados like GEM, Lamb Hass, Bacon, and Fuerte. Natural enemy surveys are included, and sticky card captures to monitor adult dispersal by flight.
• Updated molecular analyses on ALB populations in San Diego county (the original 2004 population in Chula Vista and National City are still there), including comparisons to the "aggressive" populations in northern San Diego County, Riverside, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara Counties and the extremely damaging populations in Hawaii.