Operational Field Guide
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BRITISH COLUMBIA MINISTRY OF FORESTS AND RANGE OPERATIONAL FIELD GUIDE TO THE PROPAGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BIOCONTROL AGENT UROPHORA CARDUI (CANADA THISTLE STEM GALL FLY) December 2009 Copyright © 2013, Province of British Columbia. All rights reserved. This material is owned by the Government of British Columbia and protected by copyright law. It may not be reproduced or redistributed without the prior written permission of the Province of British Columbia. Information contained in this Field Guide is comprised of fact and field observations as of December 2009. Site specific experiences may vary. OPERATIONAL FIELD GUIDE TO THE PROPAGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BIOCONTROL AGENT UROPHORA CARDUI (CANADA THISTLE STEM GALL FLY) December 2009 Range Branch Invasive Plant Program – Biocontrol Development British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range PREPARED BY: SUSAN TURNER INVASIVE PLANT PROGRAM (BIOCONTROL DEVELOPMENT) RANGE BRANCH MINISTRY OF FORESTS AND RANGE INFORMATION CONTRIBUTED BY: SANDY CESSELLI MARSHA DEWOLF INVASIVE PLANT PROGRAM (BIOCONTROL DEVELOPMENT) RANGE BRANCH MINISTRY OF FORESTS AND RANGE Table of Contents 1. PURPOSE ................................................................................................................................................... 1 2. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 3. CANADA THISTLE ....................................................................................................................................... 1 4. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS FOR CANADA THISTLE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA ....................................... 3 5. UROPHORA CARDUI INTERACTION WITH OTHER BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS .................................. 4 ALTICA CARDUORUM – Foliar-feeding beetle....................................................................................... 4 HADROPLONTUS LITURA – Stem-feeding weevil .................................................................................. 4 LARINUS PLANUS – Seed-feeding weevil .............................................................................................. 5 PUCCINIA PUNCTIFORMIS – (Rust)........................................................................................................ 7 RHINOCYLLUS CONICUS – Seed-feeding weevil .................................................................................... 8 TERELLIA RUFICAUDA – Seed-feeding fly .............................................................................................. 9 6. UROPHORA CARDUI ................................................................................................................................ 10 BIOLOGY .................................................................................................................................................. 10 7. HISTORY OF INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 15 8. UROPHORA CARDUI HABITAT ................................................................................................................. 16 Native (European) Distribution ........................................................................................................... 16 Predicted North American Distribution .............................................................................................. 16 British Columbia Habitat ..................................................................................................................... 17 9. FIELD APPLICATION OF UROPHORA CARDUI .......................................................................................... 20 FIELD COLLECTION .................................................................................................................................. 20 How to collect ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Where to collect .................................................................................................................................. 22 When to collect ................................................................................................................................... 23 Time of Year .................................................................................................................................... 23 Time of day...................................................................................................................................... 25 SHIPPING ................................................................................................................................................. 25 FIELD RELEASE ......................................................................................................................................... 25 10. MONITORING OF UROPHORA CARDUI SITES ........................................................................................ 27 AGENT ..................................................................................................................................................... 27 PLANT ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 i 11. EFFECTIVENESS OF UROPHORA CARDUI ON CANADA THISTLE CONTROL ........................................... 30 12. SUMMARY/RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................ 31 LITERATURE CITED ...................................................................................................................................... 33 APPENDIX A: Target invasive Plant Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) ........................................................ 35 The plant ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Habitat ............................................................................................................................................ 35 Growing conditions ......................................................................................................................... 35 APPENDIX B: Canada thistle surveys in BC to 2009 .................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX C: Canada thistle agents’ life cycle handling matrix .................................................................. 38 APPENDIX D: Map of Canada thistle and Urophora cardui releases and dispersals in BC to 2009 ............ 39 APPENDIX E: Urophora cardui treatment results to 2009 .......................................................................... 40 APPENDIX F: Monitoring history of positively established Urophora cardui releases to 2009 .................. 44 Figures Figure 1 - Canada Thistle infestation ............................................................................................................ 2 Figure 2 - Hadroplontus litura weevil............................................................................................................ 5 Figure 3 - Larinus planus weevil .................................................................................................................... 6 Figure 4 - Puccinia punctiformis infesting Canada thistle ............................................................................. 8 Figure 5 -Rhinocyllus conicus weevil ............................................................................................................. 9 Figure 6 - Terellia ruficauda chambers in Canada thistle seedhead ........................................................... 10 Figure 7 - Urophora cardui fly ..................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 8 - Urophora cardui larvae and tunnels ........................................................................................... 13 Figure 9 - Urophora cardui green gall ......................................................................................................... 13 Figure 10 - Urophora cardui brown gall ...................................................................................................... 14 Figure 11 - Urophora cardui pupa ............................................................................................................... 14 Figure 12 - Establishment success for the number of Urophora cardui galls used in releases .................. 16 Figure 13 - Site Establishment by BEC Zone ................................................................................................ 17 Figure 14 - Vaseux Lake release site ........................................................................................................... 18 Figure 15 - Park Rill Creek release site ........................................................................................................ 19 Figure 16 - Rodent feeding on green Urophora cardui gall ........................................................................ 21 Figure 17 - Rodent nest in pile of Canada thistle stems ............................................................................. 21 Figure 18 - Timing for collection and release of galls ................................................................................