Biocontrol News and Information
CABI Publishing


December 1997, Volume 18 No. 4

Internet Round-Up

By: Peter McEwen, Insect Investigations Ltd, School of Pure & Applied Biology, University of Wales, Cardiff,
PO Box 915, Cardiff CF1 3TL, UK

E-mail: McEwen@cf.ac.uk

Last quarter's BNI was dedicated to biological control of weeds and the Internet Round-up, this time, belatedly catches up with the rest of the Journal.

As far as I can see there is not a clear focus for this subject on the Internet. Instead the following is a summary of my trawl of the many relevant or semi-relevant sites that are out there. If anyone does run the definitive weed biocontrol site and I have missed you - apologies and please make yourself known to me!

A good place to start is the UNL AgNIC Plant Sciences Page at

http://www.unl.edu/agnicpls/pests.html

There's loads of good stuff here including links to other sites. Areas covered include the use of weevils to control bull thistle, and pest density and location maps (weeds and insects) for the north-central USA.

There is a useful link to a list of weed feeders at

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/weedfeeders/wdfdrtoc.html

This includes weed control agents for a wide range of pest plants. As an example, taken more or less at random, Hylobius transversovittatus is recorded as an insect control agent for purple loosestrife. Following the link for H. transversovittatus leads to a page giving a picture of purple loosestrife, a picture of the weevil, and a picture of root damage caused by the weevil. Information is then given on history (the weevil was introduced to the USA in 1992), appearance, habitat (the weevil is more or less host specific having undergone extensive screening prior to its introduction), life cycle, effectiveness, pesticide susceptibility (useful in IPM), conservation, and commercial availability. A reference list provides useful further reading. This information is provided for about 30 arthropods attacking six different pest plants and information on pathogens is promised for the future.

Another interesting place to visit is the Biological Control of Weeds Site at

http://www.ctpm.uq.edu.au/Literature/Biocontrol_Weeds.html

This describes a weed as a plant growing where it is not wanted, a definition that I know is not entirely accepted, but is at least clearly stated and understandable. The site notes that "introduced weeds are a problem partly because their natural enemies (the insects and diseases which controlled them in their country of origin) are not present in Australia" (this is an Australian site) and gives a series of pictures of a weed clogged lake and its transformation into open water following the introduction of a small weevil that grazes on the plant involved. This is an impressive example of weed biological control in practice! Advantages and disadvantages of biological control and the importance of integrated pest management are outlined.

Another Australian site, Biological Control Programs for Weeds in Victoria at

http://www.thereef.com.au/biocontrol/semi2she.htm

outlines the importance of weeds, their cost to the economy and also describes the importance of biological control in weed programmes in Victoria. A useful list of biological control agents for weeds is given, for example the use of the flea beetle (Longitarsus flavicornis) to destroy the roots of ragwort and the use of cochineal insect (Dactylopius opuntiae) to destroy aerial parts of the common prickly pear. The site provides useful maps detailing the spread of weeds and a summary of each control programme is given. Interestingly, an economic analysis of the problem is also presented. For example it is estimated that in Victoria, ragwort reduces milk production by an estimated $ 1,623,256/year or by
$ 1,585 per affected farm.

Moving back to the USA, look at the Wyoming Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey pages at

http://plains.uwyo.edu/~caps/caps.html

Here you will find a list of about 16 weed species most with live links to other pages. As an example, following the link for musk thistle takes you to a page showing a picture of the plant and the chance to look at pages detailing either 1995 or 1996 biocontrol releases (maps of release sites). Links to other relevant sites are also provided.

I couldn't resist including a brief mention of the site dedicated to the use of grass carp control of weeds in ponds and lakes at

http://www.state.mo.us/conservation/manag/aqggrass.html

This is a serious subject but one that I hadn't thought of when I started my searches. Slightly worried that this one recommends releasing captured grass carp in to the water systems - seems like a recipe for a biological control disaster and transmission of disease to me.

Moving away from weeds, I notice an interesting article in the New Scientist (27 September 1997, p. 7) on the latest developments in mobile telephones. It appears that it is now possible to browse the web via a screen on your `phone. The main problem with this is that the screen is too small. However it is now possible to fit the `phone with a magnifying glass so that the display appears as large as on a conventional computer screen. This means that you can surf the net as you stroll along! Available in black and white at present, but apparently coming out in colour next year!

Finally, writing this column has convinced me that it would be useful to have a definitive weed pest man-agement focus on the Internet and that, as far as I can see, this does not exist at present. Therefore if anyone wishes to construct such a resource please contact me on McEwen@cf.ac.uk.