Assessment of risk of attack to safflower by Ceratapion basicorne (Coleoptera: Apionidae), a prospective biological control agent of Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae)

Host-plant specificity and specialization in eriophyoid mites and their importance for the use of eriophyoid mites as biocontrol agents of weeds

“…Stoeva et al (2008) conducted a choice experiment in which test plants touched an infested host plant, so the mites could disperse by crawling. However, their results did not differ greatly from those of a parallel Medal et al 1999;Smith et al 2006;Bredow et al 2007). Such field experiments have rarely been done with eriophyoid mites before obtaining approval for release (McClay et al 1999;Littlefield and Sobhian 2000;Fig.…”

Assessing the biological control of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L): prospective analysis of the impact of the rosette weevil (Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger))

“…Recent studies suggest C. basicorne is more host specific than suggested initially by Clement et al () in Italy. For example, during a 3‐year field study in Eastern Turkey, Smith et al () assessed the risk of C. basicorne to safflower and found that no safflower plants were attacked despite 48–100% attack rates on yellow starthistle. In no choice laboratory tests, Smith () found the highest rates of successful larval development of C. basicorne on yellow starthistle and cornflower, although some development occurred on closely related weeds such as Centaurea melitensis (Napa starthistle), Cnicus benedictus (blessed thistle) and Crupina vulgaris (common crupina ), as well as on safflower.…”

“…In central and southern Turkey, Uygur () reported a mean area covered by YST of 22.6% (range 3–30%) with a C. basicorne infestation rate of 18.4%. Rosenthal et al () reported 50–97% infestation and Smith et al () reported 48–100% infestation in field garden studies, whereas Balciunas and Korotyaev () found an average 58% infestation across 20 sites. Uygur et al () reported that at least 50% of the root crown area was damaged in 63% of YST plants in southern Turkey.…”

“…Field observations (Uygur et al , ) and modelling analysis (Gutierrez et al , ) suggest that natural enemies killing whole plants before seed maturation and/or reducing the ability of surviving plants to compensate for feeding damage with reduced seed production are required for successful control (see below). The weevil Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger) (Coleoptera; Brentidae) attacks the rosette stage of YST throughout most of its range in the Mediterranean Basin (Alonso‐Zarazaga, ; Antonini et al , ) and has some of requisite attributes: infestation levels range from 25% to 100% (Uygur et al , ; Smith et al , ) and it is highly host specific (Smith et al , ; Smith, , ; Rector et al , ; Cristofaro et al , ). A release permit application for C. basicorne for North America was submitted to USDA‐APHIS (U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) on 26 January 2006 (Smith, ), although approval has not been granted because of concerns about possible risk to safflower crops ( Carthamus tinctorius ) and the ornamental cornflower ( Centaurea cyanus ) that are of Palearctic origin (Hinz et al , ; L. Smith, personal communication).…”

The role of the novel weapons and enemy release hypotheses on the invasiveness of knapweeds, Centaurea spp., in North America

“…Within their native ranges, knapweeds are readily fed upon by many herbivores. Feeding damage of the weevil, Ceratapion basicome, on the roots and foliage of Centaurea solstitialis and C. cyanus has been documented in wild populations within Turkey (Smith et al, 2006). The root weevil, Cyphocleonus achates, attacks the root crown of both Centaurea maculosa and C. diffusa causing an overall decrease in knapweed fitness as well as an increase in plant mortality (Corn et al, 2006).…”