University of California - Riverside. Applied Biological Control Research.

USDA. ARS. Tellus.

Rodrigo Krugner, an entomologist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Parlier, California, has found an innovative way to control insect pests in California vineyards: tapping into the vibrational signals they use as mating calls.

Krugner’s efforts have mainly focused on glassy-winged sharpshooters, which spread a bacterium that causes Pierce’s disease in vineyards and costs the California grape industry an estimated $104 million a year. Growers use chemical sprays to control the pests, but insecticides also kill beneficial insects, leave residues, and become less effective as the insects develop resistance.

USDA. APHIS. Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. National Agricultural Pest Information System.

California Department of Food and Agriculture. Pierce's Disease Control Program.

Google. YouTube; USDA. Agricultural Research Service.

Scientists with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service in central California are using sound to control insects that spread disease in grape vineyards.

USDA. ARS. Down on the Farm.

In California's San Joaquin Valley, scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have a sharpshooter, and the pathogen it spreads, in their crosshairs. ARS Scientists in California are devising strategies to combat pests that cause over $100 million in damage to the grape industry.
See also: Down on the Farm archives