Biological Control of Boneseed

Biological Control of Boneseed

Boneseed Bio-control Agents Introduced to Australia

• Chrysanthemoides tip moth in 1989

• Three leaf-feeding beetles during the early 1990s

• A seed-feeding fly in 1998

• Boneseed leafroller in April 2000

• Boneseed leaf buckle mite 2008

Boneseed Bio-control Agents Introduced to Australia

• Chrysanthemoides tip moth in 1989

• Three leaf-feeding beetles during the early 1990s

• A seed-feeding fly in 1998

• Boneseed leafroller in April 2000

• Boneseed leaf buckle mite 2008

Boneseed Bio-control Agents Introduced to Australia

• Chrysanthemoides tip moth in 1989

• Three leaf-feeding beetles during the early 1990s

• A seed-feeding fly in 1998

• Boneseed leafroller in April 2000

• Boneseed leaf buckle mite 2008

Boneseed Bio-control Agents Introduced to Australia

• Chrysanthemoides tip moth in 1989

• Three leaf-feeding beetles during the early 1990s

• A seed-feeding fly in 1998

• Boneseed leafroller in April 2000

• Boneseed leaf buckle mite 2008

Boneseed Bio-control Agents Introduced to Australia

• Chrysanthemoides tip moth in 1989

• Three leaf-feeding beetles during the early 1990s

• A seed-feeding fly in 1998

• Boneseed leafroller in April 2000

• Boneseed leaf buckle mite 2008

Bio-control Agent Being Considered for Introduction to Australia

• A rust fungus

• Host-range testing may take two or three more

years to complete

Boneseed Leafroller in NZ

Releases: 2007-2008

• 12,500 Larvae

• 3080 Adults

• 36 Sites

Establishment• North Island: looking fairly promising

• South Island: not recovered after winter

Boneseed rust: Highly promising biocontrol agent

Witches’ broom symptom

Spore containing pustules on leaf

Host-range Testing of the Boneseed Rust

• Began in 2007 in South Africa.

Intracellular vesicle

Penetration point

Basidiospore

Detached leaf assay

Whole plant inoculation trial, to run for 3 years

- needed for witches’ broom symptom development

Stemphyllium/leaf roller synergy? -tip dieback