Galerucella calmariensis

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Galerucella calmariensis
Galerucella calmariensis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Chrysomelidae
Genus: Galerucella
Species:
G. calmariensis
Binomial name
Galerucella calmariensis
Synonyms
  • Chrysomela calmariensisLinnaeus, 1767
  • Neogalerucella calmariensis(Linnaeus, 1767)

Galerucella calmariensis, sometimes Neogalerucella calmariensis, is a species of leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. It is commonly known as the black-margined loosestrife beetle and is native to Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China) where both adults and larvae feed on purple loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria ). [1] [2] [3] It has been introduced in North America as a biological control agent for purple loosestrife. [4]

Contents

Description

The black-margined loosestrife beetle is cylindrical in shape, mid brown, three to six millimetres long and half that width. When seen from above it often has two blackish lateral lines down either side. The eggs are spherical, white and usually topped with frass. The larvae are yellow speckled with black and resemble small caterpillars. [5]

Biology

Black-margined loosestrife beetle larva Galerucella calmariensis larva.jpg
Black-margined loosestrife beetle larva

Adults overwinter in leaf litter near purple loosestrife plants. They emerge in the spring and start to feed on the young growth. They cause damage to the leaves characterised by neat rounded shot holes between the veins. The females lay up to 500 eggs from May to July in small batches on leaves and stems. On hatching, the first instar larvae feed on growing shoot tips and may kill them. Later instars feed on stems and leaves leaving the upper cuticle of the leaf intact. When the density of the larvae is high enough, the plant can be completely defoliated. After feeding for about three weeks and undergoing further moults, the larvae move down the plant to pupate in the soil or leaf litter. [6] If the water level is high, larvae sometimes pupate in the hollow aerenchyma tissue in the plant stems. Both adults and larvae can float and may be wafted by water currents or wind to new host plants. [5]

Damage

Larval damage to buds and shoots reduces the growth of the purple loosestrife plant and its ability to flower and produce seed. Damage to the leaves reduces their photosynthetic capability and means there is less starch stored in the roots which may cause plant death in adverse winter conditions. It also results in less vigorous plants which do not compete so strongly with native plant species such as cattails, grasses and sedges. [5]

Use in biological control

Purple loosestrife is a native of Europe, Asia, northwest Africa and parts of Australia. In these countries a number of insects are associated with it. These include the weevil Hylobius transversovittatus and the leaf beetles G. calmariensis and G. pusilla. When purple loosestrife was introduced into North America no insects were available to keep it under control and it became rampant. It is now found in large stands throughout the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada and the American Midwest where it crowds out other species and is a threat to biodiversity. [7]

The black-margined loosestrife beetle and the closely related golden loosestrife beetle ( Neogalerucella pusilla ) have been released in over 27 states in the United States and 6 Canadian provinces. The adults of both species have become well established and proved very effective. They show great ability to find new stands of the host plant and can locate patches of purple loosestrife a kilometre away within a few days of emergence. [1]

Before these beetles were introduced to North America, the susceptibility of approximately 50 native plants of North America to the beetles was tested in Europe. Among the plants were several close relatives of purple loosestrife. Only winged loosestrife ( Lythrum alatum ) proved to be susceptible, and was not used by the beetles as a host when purple loosestrife was available. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lythraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Lythraceae is a family of flowering plants, including 32 genera, with about 620 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees. The larger genera include Cuphea, Lagerstroemia (56), Nesaea (50), Rotala (45), and Lythrum (35). It also includes the members of the former families of the pomegranate and of the water caltrop. Lythraceae has a worldwide distribution, with most species in the tropics, but ranging into temperate climate regions as well.

<i>Lythrum salicaria</i> Species of plant

Lythrum salicaria or purple loosestrife is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife and purple Lythrum. This herbaceous perennial is native to Europe and Asia, and possibly Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common asparagus beetle</span> Species of beetle

The common asparagus beetle is an important pest of asparagus crops both in Europe and in North America. Asparagus is its only food plant. The beetle is 6.0 mm to 9.5 mm long and slightly elongated. It is metallic blue-black in color with cream or yellow spots on its red-bordered elytra. The larvae are fat gray grubs with dark heads.

<i>Lythrum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Lythrum is a genus of 38 species of flowering plants native to the temperate world. Commonly known as loosestrife, they are among 32 genera of the family Lythraceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlet lily beetle</span> Species of beetle

The scarlet lily beetle, red lily beetle, or lily leaf beetle, is a leaf beetle that eats the leaves, stem, buds, and flowers, of lilies, fritillaries and other members of the family Liliaceae. It lays its eggs most often on Lilium and Fritillaria species. In the absence of Lilium and Fritillaria species, there are fewer eggs laid and the survival rate of eggs and larvae is reduced. It is now a pest in most temperate climates where lilies are cultivated.

<i>Automeris io</i> Species of moth

Automeris io, the Io moth or peacock moth, is a colorful North American moth in the family Saturniidae. The Io moth is also a member of the subfamily Hemileucinae. The name Io comes from Greek mythology in which Io was a mortal lover of Zeus. The Io moth ranges from the southeast corner of Manitoba and in the southern extremes of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, and in the US it is found from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, east of those states and down to the southern end of Florida. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican bean beetle</span> Species of beetle

The Mexican bean beetle is a species of lady beetle that can be an agricultural pest. It is one of the few North American lady beetles that feed on plants rather than other insects. It is found throughout Mexico and the eastern United States, and is abundant in the wetter and more heavily irrigated areas west of the Rocky Mountains. It does not tolerate extremely dry areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viburnum leaf beetle</span> Species of leaf beetle

Pyrrhalta viburni is a species of leaf beetle native to Europe and Asia, commonly known as the viburnum leaf beetle. It was first detected in North America in 1947 in Ontario, Canada. However, specimens had been collected in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia in 1924. In 1996 it was discovered in a park in New York, where native plantings of arrowwood were found to be heavily damaged by larval feeding. The UK-based Royal Horticultural Society stated that its members reported Pyrrhalta viburni as the "number one pest species" in 2010.

<i>Chrysochus auratus</i> Species of beetle

Chrysochus auratus, more commonly known as the dogbane beetle, is a leaf beetle primarily found in the eastern United States. The beetle is approximately 8 to 11 mm in length, and possesses an oblong and convex shape. This beetle has two pairs of wings, one of which is a pair of copper colored elytra. The beetle is typically found to have a blue-green hue, and its color is often used to ward away potential predators.

<i>Oxyops vitiosa</i> Species of beetle

Oxyops vitiosa is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. Common names include the melaleuca leaf weevil and the melaleuca snout beetle. It feeds on the leaves and shoots of the broad-leaved paper bark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia, which is endemic to Australia where it grows on seasonally inundated plains and swampland, and was introduced into Florida in order to help drain flooded portions of the Everglades.

<i>Coleomegilla maculata</i> Species of beetle

Coleomegilla maculata, commonly known as the spotted lady beetle, pink spotted lady beetle or twelve-spotted lady beetle, is a large coccinellid beetle native to North America. The adults and larvae feed primarily on aphids and the species has been used as a biological control agent. Based on name connotation and to avoid confusion with other species also called "spotted ladybeetle", spotted pink ladybeetle is probably the most appropriate common name for this species.

<i>Lebia grandis</i> Species of beetle

Lebia grandis is a ground beetle in the family Carabidae found in North America. It is a specialist predator on the eggs and larvae of Colorado potato beetles, and its larvae are obligate parasitoids of Colorado potato beetle pupae.

<i>Hylobius transversovittatus</i> Species of beetle

Hylobius transversovittatus is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is native to the Old World where both adults and larvae feed on purple loosestrife. This plant is regarded as an invasive species in North America and the weevil has been introduced into both the United States and Canada in an effort to control the plant.

<i>Samea multiplicalis</i> Species of moth

Samea multiplicalis, the salvinia stem-borer moth, is an aquatic moth commonly found in freshwater habitats from the southern United States to Argentina, as well as in Australia where it was introduced in 1981. Salvinia stem-borer moths lay their eggs on water plants like Azolla caroliniana, Pistia stratiotes, and Salvinia rotundifolia. Larval feeding on host plants causes plant death, which makes S. multiplicalis a good candidate for biological control of weedy water plants like Salvinia molesta, an invasive water fern in Australia. However, high rates of parasitism in the moth compromise its ability to effectively control water weeds. S. multiplicalis larvae are a pale yellow to green color, and adults develop tan coloration with darker patterning. The lifespan, from egg to the end of adulthood is typically three to four weeks. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1854.

<i>Galerucella</i> Genus of beetles

Galerucella is a genus of leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae described by George Robert Crotch in 1873. It is widely distributed but absent in the Neotropics. Some species feed on waterlilies and are used as biocontrol of introduced, invasive waterlilies. Galerucella tenella feed on strawberry plants.

<i>Gratiana boliviana</i> Species of beetle

Gratiana boliviana is a species of beetle in the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae. Its common name is tropical soda apple leaf beetle. It is native to South America, where its distribution includes Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It specializes on tropical soda apple, an invasive plant species. It has been released as an agent of biological pest control against the weedy plant in Florida and other parts of the United States.

<i>Zygogramma bicolorata</i> Species of beetle

Zygogramma bicolorata, variously referred to as the Parthenium beetle or Mexican beetle, is a species of leaf beetle in the subfamily Chrysomelinae, native to Mexico.

<i>Calligrapha pantherina</i> Species of beetle

Calligrapha pantherina, the sida leafbeetle, is a species of beetle in the family Chrysomelidae, endemic to Mexico. The larvae and adult beetles feed on the foliage of the common wireweed and the arrowleaf sida. This beetle has been introduced into Northern Australia as a biological control agent in an attempt to control its host plants, which are invasive weeds there.

<i>Liriomyza huidobrensis</i> Species of fly

Liriomyza huidobrensis, commonly known as the pea leaf miner, is a species of insect, a fly in the family Agromyzidae. The larvae of this fly mine the leaves and stems of peas and a range of other vegetables. It is also known as the serpentine leaf miner, but this name is also used for a closely related species, Liriomyza brassicae.

Cylindrocopturus adspersus, the sunflower stem weevil, is a species of true weevil in the beetle family Curculionidae. It is found in North America, where the larvae tunnel in the stems of wild and cultivated sunflower plants.

References

  1. 1 2 "InvasivePlants.net". Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  2. "Neogalerucella calmariensis Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  3. "Neogalerucella calmariensis". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  4. 1 2 3 "Midwest Biological Control News". Archived from the original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  5. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
  6. Thompson, D. Q., Stuckey, R. L., and Thompson, E. B. 1987. Spread, impact, and control of purple loose-strife (Lythrum salicaria) in North American Wetlands. U.S. Dept. Interior Fish and Wildl. Service. 55pp.
  7. "Biological Control: Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla". biocontrol.entomology.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.