Host Range and Impact of Dichrorampha aeratana, the First Potential Biological Control Agent for Leucanthemum vulgare in North America and Australia.

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the potential of the European root-feeding moth Dichrorampha aeratana as a biological control agent for the invasive weed Leucanthemum vulgare (oxeye daisy) in North America and Australia. The taxonomic proximity of the ornamental Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum) to L. vulgare and its popularity in North America made finding sufficiently host-specific biological control agents a challenge. No-choice tests conducted with 74 non-target species revealed partial or complete larval development on 11 species. In multiple-choice oviposition and larval development tests that were conducted in field cages, larvae were found on five of these, however in multiple-choice tests conducted under open-field conditions, larvae were only found on the ornamentals Shasta daisy and creeping

SUBMITTER: Stutz S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8150849 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature