OBCL Newsletter, February, 2017
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February 2017 Issue 2 OBCL Newsletter Overseas Biological Control Laboratories Edited by Lincoln Smith U.S.D.A, Agricultural Research Service [email protected] In This Issue The Foundation for the Study of Invasive Species Introduction ................................................................... 1 (FuEDEI) is based in Hurlingham, Argentina and is Australian Biological Control Laboratory - ABCL . 1 operated as a nonprofit research organization. Contact: Cold tolerant weevils to control Giant Salvinia ........ 1 Guillermo Cabrera Walsh, [email protected] Biological control of ear leaf Acacia ........................ 2 The Sino-American Biocontrol Laboratory (SABL) is European Biological Control Laboratory - EBCL ... 3 based in Beijing, China. Contact: Liu Chenxi, Geographic Origin of Bragada Bug .......................... 3 [email protected] Giant reed .................................................................. 4 French broom psyllid ................................................ 4 Biological Control of Cattle Fever Tick ................... 5 Australian Biological Control Integrated management of Mosquitoes ..................... 5 Insect biodiversity in a mosquito-breeding rice field Laboratory - ABCL ecosystem .............................................................. 5 Cold tolerant weevils to control Evaluation of Sand Fly Control in the Czech Republic ..................................................... 6 Giant Salvinia Visiting/temporary scientists at EBCL ..................... 6 by Matt Purcell, Brad Brown and Ryan Zonneveld Cyrtobagous salviniae is a weevil species Foundation for the Study of Invasive Species - discovered by CSIRO in South America that has FuEDEI ................................................................. 7 successfully controlled giant salvinia (Salvinia Cactus moth .............................................................. 7 molesta) where it has become invasive. ABCL Water primrose, Ludwigia spp. ................................. 7 staff collected a population of C. salviniae in Recent Publications by EBCL ....................................... 8 southern Australia in 2012 where it has persisted as the most southern site in Australia since its introduction in the early 1980’s. These weevils were used in cold tolerance studies at Texas A&M Introduction University. Results indicate that the population OBCL is a group of overseas laboratories that from Camden, near Sydney, in temperate NSW support the domestic research carried out by were more cold tolerant than the weevils in culture in Texas. USDA-ARS with the aim of “finding solutions to Louisiana State University (LSU) had problems agricultural problems that affect Americans every releasing C. salviniae weevils in north Louisiana as day from field to table”. they didn’t survive their harsh winters. All weevils The Australian Biological Control Laboratory released in north Louisiana in the winter of 2010, (ABCL) is based in Brisbane, Australia. The facility is and most weevils released in the winter of 2013, did run through a Specific Cooperative Agreement between not survive. The research team headed by Dr. Seth Johnson and Dr. Rodrigo Diaz have planned on USDA-ARS and Australia’s Federal research body, conducting further cold tolerance studies using CSIRO. This has been a long term relationship weevils from Camden including: super cooling originating in 1985. Contact: Matthew Purcell, point, lethal temperature determined in temperature [email protected] controlled alcohol baths, and survival after The European Biological Control Laboratory exposure of 5h and 10h to maximum low (EBCL) is based in Montpellier, France, and has a temperatures in refrigerated incubators. satellite laboratory in Thessaloniki, Greece. It has a Initially, hundreds of weevils were collected from Camden by ABCL staff and shipped to permanent staff of 1 American and 7 foreign scientists, quarantine facilities at LSU for cold tolerance 9 technicians and 5 administration/ support. Contact: studies. Unfortunately these insects were collected Lincoln Smith, [email protected] in late autumn, failed to oviposit in quarantine OBCL Newsletter, February 2017 Page 2 tanks, and no substantial colony could be Biological control of ear leaf Acacia maintained. More recently the weevils virtually by Ryan Zonneveld, Jeff Makinson, Christine Goosem, disappeared from the site, the likely culprit being Matt Purcell the accidental introduction of insecticide into the Ear leaf Acacia (Acacia auriculiformis) is aquatic system by local land owners upstream from native to northern Australia from northern the collection site. However in January 2017 more Queensland through to northern regions of the than 100 weevils were collected from Northern Territory. Outside of Australia it also uncontaminated sites upstream and these were occurs naturally in Papua New Guinea and successfully shipped to LSU. The weevils were Indonesia. It was introduced into Florida in 1932 young and, being mid-summer, likely to readily and is now recorded in over 24 natural areas in oviposit for colony establishment in quarantine. Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Collier and Cold tolerance studies should be underway in the Lee Counties. It has the potential to become a near term. serious invasive weed in the US. ABCL works collaboratively with Dr. Greg Wheeler at the USDA ARS Invasive Plant Research Laboratory (IPRL) in Fort Lauderdale, FL in a biological control program to control this invasive tree. Pond heavily infested by giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) at Camden near Sydney in NSW, Australia. Ear leaf Acacia, Acacia auriculiformis. Initially, a major objective was to locate A. auriculiformis sites in the native range to conduct surveys for herbivores. The taxonomy of this species and its relatives is complex and trees need to be seen in flower or with seed pods for identification as they are key characters. Areas surveyed thus far have been between Cape York and Townsville in Queensland with most sites being between Iron Range and Cairns. Sites around Darwin in the Northern Territory have also been surveyed. Many promising insects have been collected and efforts are currently focused on Matthew Purcell collecting the weevil rearing and identification before a short list of Cyrtobagous salviniae for shipment to candidates are prioritized for intensive study. colleagues at Louisiana State University A second major objective was to collect (LSU). specimens for DNA analysis so that Dr. Paul Madeira from IPRL can determine the origin of the OBCL Newsletter, February 2017 Page 3 invasive A. auriculiformis in the USA. This could S. Africa, and Pakistan with the help of many have implications for finding the most effective colleagues: Darcy Reed (UC Riverside), Brian biological control agents. We contacted the Hogg (USDA-ARS) and Charlie Pickett (CDFA) in Australian Tree Seed Centre (CSIRO) and seeds California, Riaz Mahmood (CABI) in Pakistan, and were obtained from 42 sites in the native range of by René Sforza with with Schalk Schoeman (ARC- Australia and Papua New Guinea. Plants have been ITSC) in South Africa and Ahmed Mazih (IAV) in geminated from these seeds and samples preserved Morocco. on silica gel for genetic characterization by Dr. Marie Claude Bon analyzed DNA and Madeira. These specimens have been compared the COI barcode sequences with those supplemented with 38 dried samples taken from obtained from public databases including the BOLD pressed herbarium specimens held at the DNA Barcode Reference Library and the GenBank Queensland Herbarium and the Australian National sequence database provided by the National Center Herbarium and specimens collected directly from for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which the field by ABCL staff. The combined coverage included additional samples from Pakistan, Kenya of specimens is shown on the map. Once the area of and Mexico. All the Bagrada bug specimens from origin is determined, surveys will be refocused the USA share the same barcode sequence accordingly. (haplotype), which suggests that the insects come from one origin. A similar pattern was observed with nine additional genes sequenced by Blake Bextine’s group at University of Texas. The USA haplotype is most similar to one of the most prevalent haplotypes in Pakistan. Specimens from Kenya, South Africa and Morocco are more distantly related to the USA specimens. Thus, the USA infestation probably originated from, or near, Pakistan, thus this is a high priority region to explore for prospective biological control agents. Collection sites of ear leaf Acacia to determine the area of origin of this invasive tree in the USA. European Biological Control Laboratory - EBCL Geographic Origin of Bragada Bug by Lincoln Smith, Marie-Claude Bon, René Sforza Evolutionary network showing genetic Bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris) first appeared in relatedness among COI barcode haplotypes. California in 2008 and is spreading across the Each circle represents a different haplotype, the southern U.S. and Mexico. It attacks many crop color corresponds to country, the diameter is proportional to abundance, and the cross species, but is especially damaging to cole crops hatches indicate the number of mutations (broccoli, cabbage, mustards, etc.). In order to (nucleotide changes) between haplotypes. The develop an effective biological control program we USA samples are very closely related to those need to determine the geographic origin of the from Pakistan. insects so that we know