New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts
Progress in the search for biological control agents of clover root weevil,
Sitona lepidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
C. B. PHILLIPS
S. L. GOLDSON
AgResearch
P.O. Box 60
Lincoln, New Zealand
L. REIMER
U. KUHLMANN
CABI Bioscience
Rue des Grillons 1
CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland
Abstract Clover root weevil, Sitona lepidus (syn.
flavescens) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), has recently arrived in New
Zealand. It has emerged as a pest of white clover (Trifolium repens) in
the central North Island and appears likely to spread throughout the country.
This contribution describes efforts made in 1998 to source biological control
agents of S. lepidus from Europe and North America. Six species
of parasitoids (one nearctic, five palaearctic) have been recorded in the
literature as attacking S. lepidus. Three species which warrant
investigation as candidate biological control agents were identified in this
study. These were the palaearctic species Microsoma exiguum (Diptera:
Tachinidae), Microctonus aethiopoides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae),
and Pygostolus falcatus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Also, a preliminary
description is provided of a disease which was observed to infect S.
lepidus adults collected in California.
Keywords Sitona lepidus; Sitona flavescens;
Trifolium repens; biological control; Microctonus aethiopoides;
Pygostolus falcatus; Microsoma exiguum; clover root weevil; white
clover
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2000, Vol. 43: 541-547
0028-8233/00/4304-541 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (536K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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