2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a reimbursable agreement between ARS and the University of Florida. Additional details of research can be found in the report in the parent project 6629-22000-009-00D Development & evaluation of biological control agents for invasive species threatening the everglades & other natural and managed systems. 1. Natural enemies of the lobate lac scale from India were imported into quarantine and host acceptance research is underway. Two parasitoids were found to have the ability to attack the Florida lobate lac scale. 2. The attack rates of the Indian parasitoids on the Florida lobate lac scales are low and irregular. Indications of encapsulation of the parasitoids by the Florida lobate lac scales appear to be occurring and morphological differences between the Florida and Indian lobate lac scales suggest the low attack rates might be due to host-parasitoid incompatibilities. Better matching Indian lobate lac scale populations need to be located to try and locate more suitable parasitoids for the Florida lobate lac scale. 3. The number of plants attacked by the lobate lac scale in Florida continues to expand with more than 300 species of native and economic woody plants found to be developmental hosts of the pest. 4. Research established and preliminary data indicate high impact of the lobate lac scale on some native species but not others: infestations and potential impacts on pineland species have declined while those in tropical hardwood forest and mangrove have remained variable and species dependent. 5. Host specificity testing of the Thai sawfly Neostrombocerus sp. indicates that it has a very narrow host range and that it should be safe enough to petition for release. 6. Host specificity testing of the air potato beetle, Lilocerus species, indicated that the Nepalese beetle is a narrow specialist using only yam (Dioscorea) species.