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Biological Control 51 (2009) 450–457 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ybcon Monitored releases of Rhinoncomimus latipes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a biological control agent of mile-a-minute weed (Persicaria perfoliata), 2004–2008 Judith Hough-Goldstein a,*, Mark A. Mayer b, Wayne Hudson b, George Robbins b, Patricia Morrison c, Richard Reardon d a Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716-2160, USA b Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Laboratory, N.J. Dept. Agric., Trenton, NJ 08625, USA c Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Williamstown, WV 26187, USA d USDA Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA article info abstract Article history: Mile-a-minute weed, Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross, is an invasive annual vine of Asian origin that has Received 2 April 2009 developed extensive monocultures, especially in disturbed open areas in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Accepted 13 August 2009 United States. A host-specific Asian weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes Korotyaev, was approved for release Available online 19 August 2009 in North America in 2004, and weevils have been reared at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Beneficial Insect Laboratory since then. By the end of 2007 more than 53,000 weevils had been reared Keywords: and released, mostly in New Jersey, but also in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Persicaria perfoliata The beetles established at 63 out of 65 sites (96.9%) where they were released between 2004 and Polygonum perfoliatum 2007, with successful releases consisting of as few as 200 weevils. Weevils were recorded at 30 additional Rhinoncomimus latipes Mile-a-minute weed non-release sites in New Jersey, where they had dispersed at an average rate of 4.3 km/year. Standardized Weed biological control monitoring of fixed quadrats was conducted in paired release and control sites at eight locations. Signif- Agent establishment icant differences in mile-a-minute weed populations in the presence and absence of weevils were found Monitoring at three locations, with reduction in spring densities to 25% or less of what they had been at the start within 2–3 years at release sites, while weed densities at control sites were largely unchanged. Mile-a- minute weed populations at a fourth site were similarly reduced at the release site, but without control data for comparison due to rapid colonization of the paired control site. At the other four locations, all on islands, mile-a-minute weed populations were reduced at both release and control sites without large weevil populations developing, apparently due to environmental conditions such as late frost and extreme drought. Ó 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction et al., 2004a; Ding et al., 2004; Price et al., 2003). This weevil was approved by USDA-APHIS for release in the United States in 2004. Mile-a-minute weed, Persicaria perfoliata (L.) H. Gross (Polygon- Rhinoncomimus latipes lays its eggs on leaves, stems, and buds of aceae; formerly Polygonum perfoliatum L.) is an annual vine acci- P. perfoliata. Larvae feed internally in the stems, and pupate in the dentally introduced from Asia to a nursery near York, soil, producing three to four overlapping generations each year in Pennsylvania, USA, in the 1930s. It infests natural areas in a variety the Mid-Atlantic region (Lake, 2007). Weevils are active from early of habitats in its imported range and has developed extensive spring, as soon as mile-a-minute seedlings appear, until fall, when monocultures in some areas (Hough-Goldstein et al., 2008a,b; the vines die with the first hard frost. Simulated damage that mim- McCormick and Hartwig, 1995; Mountain, 1989; Wu et al., 2002). icked R. latipes feeding caused plant mortality when applied to A biological control program for the weed was initiated by the small P. perfoliata plants, and reduced biomass and seed production USDA Forest Service in 1996 (Wu et al., 2002). The most promising when applied to larger plants (Colpetzer et al., 2004b), suggesting candidate agent, Rhinoncomimus latipes Korotyaev (Coleoptera: that R. latipes could have a substantial impact on P. perfoliata pop- Curculionidae), was tested on plant species in China and in quaran- ulations. Subsequent tests in field cages showed that R. latipes tine in Delaware and found to be extremely host specific (Colpetzer feeding on P. perfoliata reduces plant growth and delays seed pro- duction, and can kill plants when competing vegetation is present (Hough-Goldstein et al., 2008b). * Corresponding author. Fax: +1 302 831 8889. The weevil has been reared at the New Jersey Department of E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Hough-Goldstein). Agriculture Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Laboratory in Trenton, 1049-9644/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2009.08.005 J. Hough-Goldstein et al. / Biological Control 51 (2009) 450–457 451 New Jersey, since fall of 2004. By the end of 2007 more than 53,000 honey and water was taped to the bottom of the cups. Excelsior weevils had been reared and released, mostly in New Jersey, but wood shavings (Knud Nielsen Company, Inc., Evergreen, AL) were also at sites in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Vir- placed in the cups to give the weevils additional resting sites. For ginia. A standardized monitoring protocol was used to track weevil states other than New Jersey, weevils were shipped overnight in and plant populations at some, but not all, release sites. Here we these cups packed in styrofoam shipping containers along with a report on (1) all sites where R. latipes were released between frozen cold pack, and were released as soon as possible following 2004 and 2007, noting where the weevil overwintered and estab- delivery. Upon release, the excelsior and any weevils on it were re- lished populations; and (2) weevil population growth and impact moved from the cup and placed on mile-a-minute weed foliage, on the mile-a-minute weed population in selected sites where and remaining weevils were either shaken or brushed onto foliage standardized monitoring has been conducted for at least 3 years. or allowed to walk out on their own. Weevils were released at 45 sites in New Jersey and 20 sites to- tal in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia be- 2. Materials and methods tween 2004 and 2007 (Fig. 1), with releases occurring between late April and mid-October each year. In some cases multiple re- 2.1. Insects and sites leases were conducted at a single site over the course of the sum- mer. The average size of releases in New Jersey was 1123 ± 169 In July 2004, small field releases in Delaware and New Jersey (mean ± SEM) weevils, with a range of 159–6976 per site, not were conducted using R. latipes reared in quarantine at the including one site in the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Ref- USDA-Agricultural Research Service laboratory in Newark, Dela- uge where the New Jersey laboratory had been contracted to re- ware, plus additional insects collected and sent from China in lease more than 15,000 weevils between June and September 2004 and held in quarantine before release to assure positive iden- 2006. The average size of releases in other states was 793 ± 188 tification and absence of pathogens, parasitoids, or other contami- weevils, with a range of 200–3500 total per site. Establishment nants. All weevils were originally collected from P. perfoliata plants was assessed as of 2008. at two sites in Hunan Province, China (Leifeng, 28°1204000 N, 112°5001300 E and Tongxin, 28°1202100 N, 112°4805700 E). Additional insects from the 2004 mixed lab-reared and field-collected group 2.2. Monitored sites were used to initiate mass rearing at the Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Laboratory, where insects were reared on potted P. perfoliata Monitoring was conducted at paired release and control sites at plants under fluorescent grow lights (Hough-Goldstein et al., two locations in New Jersey (designated NJ-1 and NJ-2), two loca- 2008a). All subsequent releases used weevils reared at this facility, tions in Delaware (DE-1 and DE-2), one location in Maryland (MD- except for a few in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2005, which used 1), and three locations in West Virginia (WV-1, WV-2, and WV-3), a combination of weevils reared in a University of Delaware green- using a standardized monitoring protocol designed to balance ease house and weevils reared at the Phillip Alampi Laboratory, all from of implementation with collection of useful plant and insect popu- the same initial R. latipes stock. lation data (Blossey and Skinner, 2000). For each location, two sites For all releases, weevils were brought to the field in 473-ml with similar vegetation and mile-a-minute weed populations, but wax-lined hot beverage cups (Sweetheart Cup Company, Chicago, as far away from each other as possible within the same general IL) with holes cut in each end. Nylon mesh was secured over the area (500 m was suggested), were randomly assigned as either holes and a plastic Petri dish containing a sponge moistened with the release or the non-release (control) site. Dates and numbers Fig. 1. Sites where Rhinoncomimus latipes were released, 2004–2007. Closed circles indicate monitored sites. 452 J. Hough-Goldstein et al. / Biological Control 51 (2009) 450–457 of weevils released, and distances between release and control counts) and the arcsin transformation (arcsin of the square root sites for monitored sites are shown in Table 1, and locations are of the proportion) to percent cover data, in both cases to reduce shown in Fig. 1. heteroskedasticity of variances.

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