Epiblema minutana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Israel: Promise or Peril?

Benno A. Augustinus; Nadav Nussbaum; Yifat Yair; Ally Harari; Tuvia Yaacoby; Heinz Müller-Schärer; Urs Schaffner; Baruch Rubin

doi:10.3391/mbi.2023.14.1.05

Epiblema minutana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Israel: Promise or Peril?

Benno A. Augustinus, Nadav Nussbaum, Yifat Yair, Ally Harari, Tuvia Yaacoby, Heinz Müller-Schärer, Urs Schaffner, Baruch Rubin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) is a noxious weed and a flagship invasive that has been spreading throughout Israel and the Palestinian Authority since 1980. In other regions affected by this invader, parthenium weed has been managed through classical biological control releases of Epiblema strenuana, a stem-galling tortricid moth native to North America. More recently, a congeneric moth, Epiblema minutana has been identified from Israel. To better understand the implications of E. minutana for controlling parthenium weed, we investigated the spread of E. minutana within Israel and the Palestinian Authority from 2012 to 2019 and explored its host range. We used a series of no-choice experiments in field cages to evaluate damage on naturalized Ambrosia spp., Xanthium italicum and parthenium weed as well as potential non-target, commercial cultivars of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and niger (Guizotia abysinnica (L. f.) Cassini). We also evaluated damage in the field, where we found substantial gall formation on Ambrosia spp., but none on P. hysterophorus or other genera. The geographical distribution increased from an estimated 424 km² in 2017 to 1671 km² in 2019. While E. minutana shows promise as a biological control agent of Ambrosia spp. and does not attack the oil crops sunflower and niger, it is not a suitable biological control agent of parthenium weed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	98-106
Number of pages	9
Journal	Management of Biological Invasions
Volume	14
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3391/mbi.2023.14.1.05
State	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Jean and Bluette Nordmann foundation (to B.A. Augustinus), the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 31003A_166448) to H. Müller-Schärer, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (#C14.0063 to U. Schaffner and #C13.0146 to H. Müller-Schärer), and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (13.0098.KP/M323–0760 to H. Müller-Schärer). U. Schaffner was supported by CABI with core financial support from its member countries (see http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/).

Publisher Copyright:
© Augustinus et al.

Keywords

biological control
biological invasions
biosecurity
fortuitous biocontrol
host range
parthenium
weed management

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Ecology
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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10.3391/mbi.2023.14.1.05

Cite this

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title = "Epiblema minutana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Israel: Promise or Peril?",

abstract = "Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) is a noxious weed and a flagship invasive that has been spreading throughout Israel and the Palestinian Authority since 1980. In other regions affected by this invader, parthenium weed has been managed through classical biological control releases of Epiblema strenuana, a stem-galling tortricid moth native to North America. More recently, a congeneric moth, Epiblema minutana has been identified from Israel. To better understand the implications of E. minutana for controlling parthenium weed, we investigated the spread of E. minutana within Israel and the Palestinian Authority from 2012 to 2019 and explored its host range. We used a series of no-choice experiments in field cages to evaluate damage on naturalized Ambrosia spp., Xanthium italicum and parthenium weed as well as potential non-target, commercial cultivars of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and niger (Guizotia abysinnica (L. f.) Cassini). We also evaluated damage in the field, where we found substantial gall formation on Ambrosia spp., but none on P. hysterophorus or other genera. The geographical distribution increased from an estimated 424 km2 in 2017 to 1671 km2 in 2019. While E. minutana shows promise as a biological control agent of Ambrosia spp. and does not attack the oil crops sunflower and niger, it is not a suitable biological control agent of parthenium weed.",

keywords = "biological control, biological invasions, biosecurity, fortuitous biocontrol, host range, parthenium, weed management",

author = "Augustinus, {Benno A.} and Nadav Nussbaum and Yifat Yair and Ally Harari and Tuvia Yaacoby and Heinz M{\"u}ller-Sch{\"a}rer and Urs Schaffner and Baruch Rubin",

note = "Funding Information: This study was supported by the Jean and Bluette Nordmann foundation (to B.A. Augustinus), the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 31003A_166448) to H. M{\"u}ller-Sch{\"a}rer, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (#C14.0063 to U. Schaffner and #C13.0146 to H. M{\"u}ller-Sch{\"a}rer), and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (13.0098.KP/M323–0760 to H. M{\"u}ller-Sch{\"a}rer). U. Schaffner was supported by CABI with core financial support from its member countries (see http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Augustinus et al.",

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doi = "10.3391/mbi.2023.14.1.05",

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N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the Jean and Bluette Nordmann foundation (to B.A. Augustinus), the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 31003A_166448) to H. Müller-Schärer, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (#C14.0063 to U. Schaffner and #C13.0146 to H. Müller-Schärer), and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (13.0098.KP/M323–0760 to H. Müller-Schärer). U. Schaffner was supported by CABI with core financial support from its member countries (see http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/). Publisher Copyright: © Augustinus et al.

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N2 - Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) is a noxious weed and a flagship invasive that has been spreading throughout Israel and the Palestinian Authority since 1980. In other regions affected by this invader, parthenium weed has been managed through classical biological control releases of Epiblema strenuana, a stem-galling tortricid moth native to North America. More recently, a congeneric moth, Epiblema minutana has been identified from Israel. To better understand the implications of E. minutana for controlling parthenium weed, we investigated the spread of E. minutana within Israel and the Palestinian Authority from 2012 to 2019 and explored its host range. We used a series of no-choice experiments in field cages to evaluate damage on naturalized Ambrosia spp., Xanthium italicum and parthenium weed as well as potential non-target, commercial cultivars of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and niger (Guizotia abysinnica (L. f.) Cassini). We also evaluated damage in the field, where we found substantial gall formation on Ambrosia spp., but none on P. hysterophorus or other genera. The geographical distribution increased from an estimated 424 km2 in 2017 to 1671 km2 in 2019. While E. minutana shows promise as a biological control agent of Ambrosia spp. and does not attack the oil crops sunflower and niger, it is not a suitable biological control agent of parthenium weed.

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Epiblema minutana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Israel: Promise or Peril?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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