- Title
- Interactions between two biological control agents and their target weed: a beetle, a bug and a cactus weed
- Creator
- Mnqeta, Zezethu, Paterson, Iain D
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417475
- Identifier
- vital:71456
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2019.1631960"
- Description
- Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae) is an invasive alien shrub introduced into South Africa from Brazil. The leaf-feeding beetle, Phenrica guerini Bechyne (Chrysomelidae), was released as a biological control agent in South Africa in 1991 followed by the stem-wilting bug, Catorhintha schaffneri Brailovsky and Garcia (Coreidae), in 2014. This study investigated the interactions between the two agents under laboratory conditions. Potted plants were exposed to one of four treatments: control (no agents), P. guerini only, C. schaffneri only and both species together. Four densities, ranging from 2 to 12 insects per plant were used. Cathorhitha schaffneri alone at low to moderate densities resulted in the same reduction in number of leaves and shoot length as when combine with P. guerini. At the highest density, C. schaffneri reduced the number of leaves significantly more than any treatment. Mortality of P. guerini was significantly higher than C. schaffneri at the highest density when in combination. The antagonistic interaction between P. guerini and C. schaffneri suggests that these agents should not be released together because this would impact negatively on the overall biocontrol programme against P. aculeata. It is recommended that C. schaffneri should be released at sites where P. guerini is not present. Extrapolation of laboratory-based studies into the field is often challenging, so mass-rearing and releases of P. guerini should continue until there is convincing proof that C. schaffneri alone is more effective than P. guerini in the field.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (12 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis Online
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Biocontrol Science and Technology, Mnqeta, Z. and Paterson, I.D., 2019. Interactions between two biological control agents and their target weed: a beetle, a bug and a cactus weed. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 29(10), pp.979-990, Biocontrol Science and Technology volume 29 number 10 p. 979 2019 1360-0478
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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- Visitors: 204
- Downloads: 12
Collections
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Insects in Sustainable Agricultural Ecosystems
Paterson, Iain D (Associate Professor)
SDG 15. Life On Land
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Interactions between two biological control agents and their target weed.pdf | 761 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |