X-Nico

2 unusual facts about biological pest control


Gonipterus scutellatus

The egg parasite Anaphes nitens, a wasp which is native to Australia, has been introduced to other countries as a biological control agent to control the gum tree weevil.

Pyralis pictalis

Biological pest control by this or another species may be feasible if the stored-food pest problem is accounted for.


Alternanthera

Biological pest control agents now in use to reduce alligator weed infestations include the alligator weed flea beetle (Agasicles hygrophila), the alligator weed thrips (Amynothrips andersoni), and the alligator weed stem borer (Arcola malloi).

Centaurea maculosa

Thirteen biological pest control agents have been used against this plant and its cogener, diffuse knapweed, including the moths Agapeta zoegana and Metzneria paucipunctella, the weevils Bangasternus fausti, Larinus obtusus, and Larinus minutus and Cyphocleonus achates, and the fruit flies Chaetorellia acrolophi, Urophora affinis and Urophora quadrifasciata.

Hydrilla

Insects used as biological pest control for this plant include weevils of the genus Bagous and the Asian hydrilla leaf-mining fly (Hydrellia pakistanae).

Paracoccus marginatus

In 1999, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agricultural Research Service collected and reared four species of wasp from Mexico in a biological pest control experiment.

Rhinocyllus

The genus's most infamous species is R. conicus which is a controversial agent of biological pest control which has been used against noxious thistles in the genera Carduus, Cirsium, Onopordum, and Silybum.

Rio Grande Project

Other than extensive diversions, exotic introduced, fast-growing and water-consuming plants, such as water hyacinth and hydrilla, are also leading to reduced flows.The United States government has recently attempted to slow or stop the progress of these weeds by introducing insects and fish that feed on the invasive plants.

Trichosirocalus horridus

It is a biological pest control agent that was introduced into the United States in 1974 to control exotic thistles, especially in the Cirsium and Carduus genera.


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