Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-wbk2r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-23T07:59:44.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Host Specificity and Environmental Impact of the Weevil Hylobius transversovittatus, a Biological Control Agent of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Bernd Blossey ,
Dieter Schroeder ,
Stephen D. Hight  and
Richard A. Malecki
Bernd Blossey
Affiliation:
Int. Inst. of Biol. Control, European Stn. 1, Chemin des Grillons, CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland
Dieter Schroeder
Affiliation:
Int. Inst. of Biol. Control, European Stn. 1, Chemin des Grillons, CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland
Stephen D. Hight
Affiliation:
USDA, ARS, Insect Biocontrol Lab., Bldg. 406, BARC-East, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2350
Richard A. Malecki
Affiliation:
U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv., New York Cooperative Fish & Wildl. Res. Unit., Fernow Hall, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction of purple loosestrife into North America and its spread into wetlands has led to the degradation of these important habitats for wildlife. Conventional control efforts are unsuccessful in providing long-term control. A classical biological control program offers the best chance for reducing the numbers of this invasive plant and improving regeneration of the native flora and fauna. European studies demonstrated that the root boring weevil Hylobius transversovittatus is highly host specific to the target weed. Attack of two test plant species (winged lythrum and swamp loosestrife) during host range screening was most likely due to artificial test conditions. An environmental assessment of the potential effects of the release of the purple loosestrife borer in North America indicated that benefits outweigh any potential negative impact Therefore its field release was approved in 1992.

Keywords

Purple loosestrife borer, Hylobius transversovittatus Goezepurple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L. # LYTSAwinged lythrum, Lythrum alatum Pursh # LYTALswamp loosestrife, Decodon verticillatus (L.) Ell. # DEOVEBiological controlpurple loosestrife borerwetlandsLYTSALYTALDEOVE
Type
Special Topics
Information
Weed Science , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , March 1994 , pp. 128 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Anonymous. 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Endangered & Threatened Wildlife and Plants. U.S. Gov. Printing Off., Washington, D.C. 34 pp.Google Scholar
2. Anderson, N. A. and Ascher, P. D. 1993. Style morph frequencies in Minnesota populations of Lythrum (Lythraceae). I. Distylous L. alatum Pursh. Plant Cell Incompatibility Newsl. 25: (in press).Google Scholar
3. Baillon, H. 1880. The Natural History of Plants. Vol. VI. L. Reeve & Co., London.Google Scholar
4. Blossey, B. 1991. Biology, ecology, host specificity, and impact of Galerucella calmariensis L., G. pusilla Duft. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Hylobius transversovittatus Goeze (Coleotera: Curculionidae) on their host plant Lythrum salicaria L. (purple loosestrife). , Zool. Inst., Christian Albrechts Univ., Kiel, Germany. 115 pp. (in German).Google Scholar
5. Blossey, B. 1993. Herbivory below ground and biological weed control: life history of a root-boring weevil on purple loosestrife. Oecologia 94:380–387.Google Scholar
6. Blossey, B. 1993. Impact of Galerucella pusilla Duft. and G. calmariensis L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on field populations of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.). Pages 000–000 in Delfosse, E. S. and Scott, R. R., eds. Proc. VIII Int. Symp. Biol. Control of Weeds. DSIR/CSIRO, Melbourne (in press).Google Scholar
7. Blossey, B. and Ehlers, R. U. 1991. Entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditis spp. and Steinernema anomali) as potential antagonists of the biological weed control agent Hylobius transversovittatus Goeze (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). J. Invertebr. Pathol. 58:453–454.Google Scholar
8. Blossey, B., Schroeder, D., Hight, S. D., and Malecki, R. A. 1993. Host specificity and environmental impact of two leaf beetles for the biological control of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Weed Sci. (In press).Google Scholar
9. Crawley, M. J. 1989. The successes and failures of weed biocontrol using insects. Biocontrol News and Info. 19:213–223.Google Scholar
10. Cronquist, A. 1981. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.Google Scholar
11. Cullen, J. M. 1990. Current problems in host specificity screening. Pages 27–36 in Delfosse, E. S., ed. Proc. VII Int. Symp. Biol. Control of Weeds. 1st. Sper. Patol. Veg. (MAF), Rome.Google Scholar
12. Duke, J. A. 1985. CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.Google Scholar
13. Eckert, C. and Barrett, S. C. H. 1992. Stochastic loss of style morphs from populations of tristylous Lythrum salicaria and Decodon verticillatus (Lythraceae). Evolution 46:1014–1029.Google Scholar
14. Eggers, S. D. and Reed, D. M. 1987. Wetland plants and plant communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul. Google Scholar
15. Eidmann, H. H. 1974. Hylobius Schönh. Pages 275–293 in Schwenke, W., ed. Die Forstschädlinge Europas, 2. Band, Paul Parey, Hamburg, Berlin.Google Scholar
16. Gleason, H. A. and Cronquist, A. 1963. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York.Google Scholar
17. Hight, S. D. 1990. Available feeding niches in populations of Lythrum salicaria L. (purple loosestrife) in the Northeastern United States, Pages 269–278 in Delfosse, E. S., ed. Proc. VII Symp. Biol. Control of Weeds. 1st. Sper. Patol. Veg. (MAF), Rome.Google Scholar
18. Hight, S. D. and Drea, J. J. Jr. 1991. Prospects for a classical biological control project against purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.). Natural Areas J. 11:151–157.Google Scholar
19. Julien, M. H. 1992. Biological control of weeds. A World Catalogue of Agents and Their Target Weeds. 3rd ed. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.Google Scholar
20. Kippenberg, H. 1983. 115. Gattung: Hylobius . Pages 125–126 in Freude, H. K., Harde, W., and Lohse, G. A., eds. Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Band 11. Goecke und Evers, Krefeld, Germany.Google Scholar
21. Klingman, D. L. and Coulson, J. R. 1982. Guidelines for introducing foreign organisms into the United States for the biological control of weeds. Weed Sci. 20:661–667.Google Scholar
22. Kok, L. T., McAvoy, T. J., Malecki, R. A., Hight, S. D., Drea, J. J. Jr., and Coulson, J. R. 1992. Host specificity tests of Hylobius transversovittatus Goeze (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a potential biological control agent of purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L. (Lythraceae). Biol. Control 2:1–8.Google Scholar
23. Lima, P. J. 1990. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) safeguards for introducing natural enemies for biological control of weeds. Pages 109–115 in Delfosse, E. S., ed. Proc. VII Int. Symp. Biol. Control of Weeds. Ist. Sper. Patol. Veg. (MAF), Rome.Google Scholar
24. Malecki, R. A., Blossey, B., Hight, S. D., Schroeder, D., Kok, L. T., and Coulson, J. R. 1993. Biological control of purple loosestrife. Bioscience 43:680–686.Google Scholar
25. Martin, A. C., Zim, H. S., and Nelson, A. L. 1951. American Wildlife and Plants. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.Google Scholar
26. Palmén, E. 1940. Zur Biologie und nordeuropäischen Verbreitung von Hylobius transversovittatus Steph. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Ann. Entomol. Fenn. 6:129–140.Google Scholar
27. Skinner, L. C., Rendall, W. J., and Fuge, E. L. 1993. Minnesota's purple loosestrife program: history, findings and management recommendations. Minnesota Dep. Natural Resources, Special Publ. 145. Minnesota Dep. Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN.Google Scholar
28. Stuckey, R. L. 1980. Distributional history of Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) in North America. Bartonia 47:3–20.Google Scholar
29. Thompson, D. Q., Stuckey, R. L., and Thompson, E. B. 1987. Spread, impact, and control of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in North American wetlands. U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv., Fish and Wildl. Res. 2. 55 pp.Google Scholar
30. Uhler, F. M. 1944. Control of undesirable plants in waterfowl habitats. Trans. North American Wildl. Conf. 9:295–303.Google Scholar