Botanophila seneciella

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Botanophila seneciella
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Anthomyiidae
Genus: Botanophila
Species:
B. seneciella
Binomial name
Botanophila seneciella
(Meade, 1892) [1]
Synonyms
  • Hylemya seneciella [2]
  • Pegohylemyia seneciella [3]

Botanophila seneciella, the ragwort seed fly or ragwort seed head fly, is a fly species in the family Anthomyiidae.

Larvae feed within seed heads of Jacobaea vulgaris (the tansy ragwort), often destroying all of the developing seeds. [4] It is also found feeding on Senecio vulgaris (the groundsel).

These flies originated in France. [5] Together with the cinnabar moth ( Tyria jacobaeae ) and the tansy ragwort flea beetle ( Longitarsus jacobaeae ), the ragwort seed fly can be used for the biological control of the tansy ragwort. [2] It has been approved and released for Senecio control in California, Australia and elsewhere.

Related Research Articles

<i>Senecio</i> Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae

Senecio is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels.

<i>Jacobaea vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Jacobaea vulgaris, syn. Senecio jacobaea, is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere.

<i>Senecio vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Senecio vulgaris, often known by the common names groundsel and old-man-in-the-spring, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an annual herb, native to Europe and widely naturalised as a ruderal species in suitable disturbed habitats worldwide.

Tansy Species of plant

Tansy is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus Tanacetum in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in some areas has become invasive. It is also known as common tansy, bitter buttons, cow bitter, or golden buttons. The Latin word vulgare means "common".

Cinnabar moth Species of moth

The cinnabar moth is a brightly coloured arctiid moth found as a native species in Europe and western and central Asia then east across the Palearctic to Siberia to China. It has been introduced into New Zealand, Australia and North America to control ragwort, on which its larvae feed. The moth is named after the red mineral cinnabar because of the red patches on its predominantly black wings. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Cinnabar moths are about 20 mm (0.79 in) long and have a wingspan of 32–42 mm (1.3–1.7 in).

<i>Jacobaea maritima</i> Species of flowering plant

Jacobaea maritima, commonly known as silver ragwort, is a perennial plant species in the genus Jacobaea in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region. It was formerly placed in the genus Senecio, and is still widely referred to as Senecio cineraria; see the list of synonyms (right) for other names.

Noxious weed Harmful or invasive weed

A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or livestock. Most noxious weeds have been introduced into an ecosystem by ignorance, mismanagement, or accident. Some noxious weeds are native. Typically they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls, and display adverse effects through contact or ingestion. Noxious weeds are a large problem in many parts of the world, greatly affecting areas of agriculture, forest management, nature reserves, parks and other open space.

<i>Packera aurea</i> Species of flowering plant

Packera aurea, commonly known as golden ragwort or simply ragwort, is a perennial flower in the family Asteraceae. It is also known as golden groundsel, squaw weed, life root, golden Senecio, uncum, uncum root, waw weed, false valerian, cough weed, female regulator, cocash weed, ragweed, staggerwort, and St. James wort.

<i>Senecio squalidus</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Senecio squalidus, known as Oxford ragwort, is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is a yellow-flowered herbaceous plant, native to mountainous, rocky or volcanic areas, that has managed to find other homes on man-made and natural piles of rocks, war-ruined neighborhoods and even on stone walls. These habitats resemble its well drained natural rocky homeland. The plants have spread via the wind, rail and the activities of botanists. The travels of this short-lived perennial, biennial, or winter annual make it a good subject for studies of the evolution and ecology of flowering plants.

<i>Senecio eboracensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Senecio eboracensis, the York groundsel or York radiate groundsel, is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is a self-pollinating hybrid species of ragwort and one of only six new plant species to be discovered in either the United Kingdom or North America in the last 100 years. It was discovered in 1979 in York, England growing next to a parking lot and formally described in 2003. Like many of the Senecio genus it can be found growing in urban habitats, such as disturbed earth and pavement cracks and this particular species only in York and between a railway and a parking lot.

Ragwort may refer to a number of plant species:

<i>Carthamus lanatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Carthamus lanatus is a species of thistle known as woolly distaff thistle, downy safflower or saffron thistle. It is closely related to safflower. This annual plant is a native of the Mediterranean Basin, but it is familiar in other places where it was introduced and has become a noxious weed, such as in parts of North America and southern Australia with similar climates.

Tansy ragwort flea beetle Species of beetle

Longitarsus jacobaeae is a species of flea beetle known as the tansy ragwort flea beetle. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the nectar-rich noxious weed known as ragwort.

<i>Nyctemera annulata</i> Species of moth

Nyctemera annulata, the magpie moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1832. It is endemic to New Zealand and found in all parts of the country.

The Ragwort Control Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for the publication of a Code of Practice on Ragwort Control, as common ragwort is considered a harmful weed that can endanger animals which browse it.

<i>Galtara extensa</i> Species of moth

Galtara extensa is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1880. It is found on the Comoros and in Madagascar.

Botanophila fonsecai, also known as Fonseca's seed fly, is a small fly endemic only to an approximately 100m stretch of coastal dune system of North-Eastern Scotland. The fly is named after British entomologist Evelyn d’Assis-Fonseca. It is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List due to its small habitat range and constant threats to these limited environments. The fly is probably the rarest endemic insect species in the UK.

References

  1. Botanophila seneciella at discoverlife.org
  2. 1 2 Successful Biological Control of Ragwort, Senecio Jacobaea, by Introduced Insects in Oregon. Peter McEvoy, Caroline Cox and Eric Coombs, Ecological Applications, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp. 430-442, doi:10.2307/1941900
  3. at Montana War on Weeds
  4. Botanophila seneciella at the Integrated Weed Control Project at Washington State University
  5. Rees, Norman, et al., Ed., Biological Control of Weeds in the West, Western Society of Weed Science, in Cooperation with USDA ARS, MT Dept. of Ag, and MT State Univ., Color Printers, Bozeman, MT, Feb., 1996.