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Field Test of the Weevil Hadroplonthus trimaculatus and the Fleabeetle Psylliodes chalcomera Against Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Paul H. Dunn  and
Gaetano Campobasso
Paul H. Dunn
Affiliation:
U.S. Dep. Agric., Agric. Res. Serv., Biol. Control of Weeds Lab.—Europe, Rome, Italy. Mail address: EBCL, American Embassy/AGRIC, Unit 21551 APO AE, 09777
Gaetano Campobasso
Affiliation:
U.S. Dep. Agric., Agric. Res. Serv., Biol. Control of Weeds Lab.—Europe, Rome, Italy. Mail address: EBCL, American Embassy/AGRIC, Unit 21551 APO AE, 09777
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Abstract

This study was conducted to determine if field evaluations could be used to select insects for biological control of musk thistle. Host specificity and larval development of a weevil, Hadroplonthus trimaculatus, and a fleabeetle, Psylliodes chalcomera, were studied in field trials near Rome, Italy, in which insects were allowed free choice of several hosts. Natural populations of these two insects, which do not occur in North America, were exposed to North American species of Cirsium, Carduus, and selected crops. Adult insects and larvae on host plants were identified and counted on test plants from North America and native attraction plants. In addition to infesting musk thistle, weevil adults and larvae were recorded on flodman thistle, wavyleaf thistle, and spinosissimum thistle. Consequently, this insect was not suitable for introduction into North America. The fleabeetle would be satisfactory for biological control since no adults or larvae were recorded on Cirsium spp. or economic plants. These studies show that field trials are a valid method for identifying specific and nonspecific candidate insects for biological control of weeds.

Keywords

Musk thistle, Carduus macrocephalus Desfontaines, subsp. macrocephalus Nymanmusk thistle, Carduus macrocephalus Desfontaines, subsp. leiophyllus (Petrovic) Arenesmusk thistle, Carduus nutans L., subsp. leiophyllus (Petrovic) Arenes, # CRUNUmusk thistle, Carduus nutans L., subsp. macrocephalus (Desfontaines) Nyman, # CRUNUplumeless thistle, Carduus acanthoides L., # CRUACflodman thistle, Cirsium flodmanii (Rydbon) Arthur, # CIRFLwavyleaf thistle, Cirsium undulatum Nuttal (Spreng), # CIRUNfleabeetle, Psylliodes chalcomera (Illiger)and weevil, Hadroplonthus trimaculatus (Fabricius)Host specificityweedsweevilfleabeetlesbiological controlCRUNUCRUACCIRFLCIRUN
Type
Special Topics
Information
Weed Science , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , December 1993 , pp. 656 - 663
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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