Rearing and release of Megamelus scutellaris Berg (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) for biological control of waterhyacinth in 2015

Abstract

Waterhyacinth biological control research at the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, Mississippi is currently focused on the rearing and release of the delphacid planthopper, Megamelus scutellaris Berg (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), which has been in culture at the ERDC since 2010. Past failures to establish M. scutellaris were attributed to extreme summer temperatures at field sites; therefore, a putatively temperature-tolerant strain of this insect was obtained from field-established stock in Florida. This report details the performance of original and new strains of M. scutellaris in greenhouse rearing and field released colonies in 2015. INTRODUCTION: Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laub) is considered to be one of the world's worst weeds (Holm et al. 1977). It is an erect, free-floating herbaceous plant native to tropical South America (Gopal 1987). Waterhyacinth can grow rapidly and invade lakes, ponds, and rivers, creating impenetrable barriers and floating mats that impede water traffic and degrade aquatic ecosystems (Center et al. 2002). Herbicide management of waterhyacinth can be very costly. Since 1975, over $100 million has been spent on herbicide control of waterhyacinth in Louisiana alone 1. An alternative to using herbicides for waterhyacinth management has been the use of host-specific biological control agents.

A Review of the Planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) of the United States: Supplement 1

“…This species was deliberately introduced for biological control of water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes Mart. (Solms); Pontederiaceae) and has been released in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and California (Tipping et al 2014, Moran et al 2016, Freedman and Harms 2017, Hopper et al 2017); and also South Africa (Hill and Coetzee 2017). This species can be expected to become established in the US wherever water hyacinth occurs.…”