[APWG] garlic mustard weevil biocontrol released in Ontario

[Marc Imlay]

garlic mustard weevil biocontrol released in Ontario

 

Good news to share with my environmental activist friends at this difficult
time. Minnesota persevered on the research for many years and once again
Canada is our ally. Our annual work for cut, pull, and spray should be
reduced by 10% in about 5 years. With biocontrol being released next year
for Japanese Knotweed, and success with Swallowwort, it is time for
presentations that update biocontrol work.   Action alerts from
environmental NGOs such as the Sierra Club continue to help a lot. 

 

Marc

 

 

 

From: Judith Hough-Goldstein <jhough at udel.edu <mailto:jhough at udel.edu> > 
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2019 11:04 AM

Great news!

According to the project website "the USDA-APHIS Technical Advisory Group
(TAG) recommended field release in February 2017. The weevil now has to pass
further US environmental regulations (section 7 consultation with US Fish
and Wildlife Service, tribal and public consultations etc.) before being
permitted for release."

So unless there's an update, it can't be released in the US yet. Like the
swallowwort biocontrol agent, it will be a race between the insect moving on
its own from Canada and the decision-making process in the US...

 

On Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 9:22 AM Marc Imlay <ialm at erols.com
<mailto:ialm at erols.com> > wrote:

Hi Tom, 

It depends on how fast the weevil moves to new garlic mustard sites. And
where else it is released in Canada. For example, the weevils for
mile-a-minute move as much as a mile a year. 

Marc Imlay, PhD 

Conservation biologist, Park Ranger Office, Non-native Invasive Plant
Control coordinator. 
(301) 442-5657 cell  ialm at erols.com <mailto:ialm at erols.com> 
Natural and Historical Resources Division
The  Maryland-National   Capital   Park  and Planning Commission

 

From: Tom Zaleski <TZaleski at Newark.de.us <mailto:TZaleski at Newark.de.us> > 
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2019 7:52 AM
To: Marc Imlay <ialm at erols.com <mailto:ialm at erols.com> >
Subject: RE: [MAIPC] garlic mustard weevil biocontrol released in Ontario

 

Will the study involve releasing the weevil anywhere else in the US? I am in
northern Delaware and I have Garlic Mustard in our woodlands as well.

 

From: MAIPC <maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org
<mailto:maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org> > On Behalf Of Marc Imlay
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2019 9:49 PM
To: INVASIVES at LISTSERV.UMD.EDU <mailto:INVASIVES at LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> ;
maipc at lists.maipc.org <mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org> 
Subject: [MAIPC] garlic mustard weevil biocontrol released in Ontario

 
https://blog.cabi.org/2018/12/18/giving-garlic-mustard-the-biocontrol-treatm
ent/

 In August and October 2018, Dr. Rob Bourchier, from Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) released the
<https://www.cabi.org/projects/project/62322> first biocontrol agent against
garlic mustard in North America - the root mining weevil Ceutorhynchus
scrobicollis.  Weevil larvae in lab-inoculated plants and adults were
released at a garlic mustard site in Ontario, Canada.

A population  model predicted  that of all agents investigated, C.
scrobicollis will have the most significant impact on garlic mustard. If the
weevils survive the winter and establish themselves in the wild, they are
expected to reduce the density of the weed at existing sites and slow its
spread to new sites.  The project will continue to closely monitor the
weevil's progress and assess whether they live up to the model's prediction.


In 2019, the weevil rearing program at the University of Minnesota, European
field collections by CABI and field expertise from AAFC will be combined to
expand the number of weevil release sites in Ontario. These release
experiments will focus on defining the conditions that favour C.
scrobicollis survival and population growth.



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