A new gall midge species (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) as a potential candidate for biological control of the invasive plant
- PDF / 1,527,088 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 106 Downloads / 222 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A new gall midge species (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) as a potential candidate for biological control of the invasive plant Cortaderia selloana (Poaceae) Jaime Fagúndez
&
Raymond J. Gagné & Marta Vila
Received: 30 November 2019 / Accepted: 27 August 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract A gall midge (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) is reported here for the first time from spikelets of Cortaderia selloana, a prominent alien invasive grass species in southern Europe. The insect is described as a new genus and species, Spanolepis selloanae Gagné. Based on morphological and molecular analyses, the new genus and species are tentatively placed within the supertribe Lasiopteridi and tribe Dasineurini. Its effects on seed production were studied in order to ascertain its effectiveness in limiting sexual reproduction of the invasive plant species. The larvae of S. selloanae feed on the ovaries with a mean seed depletion of 74% in the studied population in northwest Spain. The new species is a potential candidate agent for the effective biological control against C. selloana.
Keywords Lasiopteridi . Dasineurini . Biological control . Invasive alien species . DNA barcoding
Introduction The Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) states that the lack of natural enemies provides invasive alien species with a competitive advantage, partially explaining the success of invasive species in the new environments (Keane and Crawley 2002). Classical Biological Control consists on the intentional release of natural enemies of non-native species, either predators, herbivores, parasites or pathogens, to counteract their expansion in invaded ecosystems (Van Driesche et al. 2010, Schwarzländer et al. 2010). The use of biological control in invasive plant species management has proved to be an effective method when the agents affect sensitive stages of the life cycle. However, the release of natural enemies obtained in the native areas of an invader has raised concerns among researchers because they may become harmful to native species or disrupt ecosystem networks (Messing 2000, Simberloff and Stiling 1996). Despite these concerns, biological control is now widely
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-020-00844-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. Fagúndez (*) BioCost research group, University of A Coruña, Facultade de Ciencias, Rua da Fraga 10, 15071 A Coruña, Spain e-mail: [email protected] R. J. Gagné Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, c/o Smithsonian
Institution MRC-168, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA M. Vila GIBE research group, University of A Coruña, Facultade de Ciencias, Rua da Fraga 10, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Phytoparasitica
recognized as the most reliable tool for long-term control of invasive species (Sheppard et al. 2006). In invasive plants, insects are some of the most effective biological control agents (Blossey 1995). Insects th
Data Loading...
