A synthetic sex pheromone trapping survey of the leaf skeletonizer Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) demonstrated the unexpectedly widespread distribution of the insect across > 40,000 ha of urban Auckland, New Zealand. A survey of eucalyptus trees planted in parks and other public areas showed a significant spatial correlation between trap catch and breeding populations, validating the trap survey results. Traps in trees showing damage had four-fold higher catches than traps placed in undamaged or nonhost trees, and < 1% of damaged trees with traps failed to catch adult moths. Damage by larval feeding was correlated with male trap catch in the previous generation, offering good prospects for a pest management decision support system, provided that an economic threshold is developed. Catches increased by 3.4-fold in the same georeferenced trapping grid between November and December 2003 and between March and April 2004 across two generations, over the summer. A vertical transect showed that catches increased with height up to the top trap at 13 m (60% of mean tree height). Options for managing the insect will need to overcome the high rate of increase, the rate of spread, and the vertical distribution of the insect on tall eucalyptus trees.
The gum leaf skeletoniser (Uraba lugens) a significant pest in Australia is now well established on Eucalyptus spp in the Auckland region One larval parasitoid (Meteorus pulchricornis) and two pupal parasitoids (Xanthopimpla rhopaloceros and Anacis sp) were recorded from U lugens collected in southwest Auckland Parasitism of M pulchricornis and X rhopaloceros against U lugens and other hosts in New Zealand (Helicoverpa armigera and Epiphyas postvittana respectively) was compared using nochoice and choice tests under controlled conditions Uraba lugens is a suitable host for development of both M pulchricornis and X rhopaloceros Choice tests revealed that M pulchricornis prefers H armigera larvae to U lugens Attack by X rhopaloceros occurred only when host pupae were presented within their cocoons Meteorus pulchricornis may compete with proposed classical biological control agents introduced against U lugens while X rhopaloceros is more likely to complement them
We present a method to simulate atmospheric dispersal events in invasion ecology using examples of two economically important and highly mobile insect species: the bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (which vectors yellow dwarf viruses to maize, barley, oats and wheat); and the biting midge, Culicoides imicola (which vectors bluetongue virus to a wide range of domestic and wild ruminants). We demonstrate this method using two available atmospheric trajectory modelling tools: HYSPLIT and PMTRAJ.
The shrub Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson (Asteraceae) is highly invasive in southeastern Africa and is the subject of a South African biological control programme. The biotype of C. odorata growing in South Africa differs in several respects from the more common type noted to be invasive elsewhere, including its apparent better adaptation to a cool climate. One challenge facing the biological control programme is the identification of agents that are both suited to develop on this host biotype and persist in the relatively cool conditions found in South Africa. C. odorata is native to the Americas, where it has a very extensive distribution spanning a wide range of climates. Two climate matching computer programmes (CLIMEX and FloraMap) were used to focus the agent search effort by identifying areas in the Americas that are climatically similar to the invaded region in southern Africa (SA). Several higher-latitude and higher-altitude areas in South and Central America were identified by both CLIMEX and FloraMap as being similar to the region invaded by C. odorata in South Africa. In many areas, the two models agreed, but in others, there were discrepancies, which are discussed. There was little overlap between the region from which the SA biotype is thought to have originated and climatically suitable/similar areas in the Americas indicated by either model.
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