Seasonal activity and biology of cotton thistle stem-boring weevil Lixus cardui biocontrol agent of cotton thistles, Onopordum spp. in Urmia region

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University

Abstract

Cotton thistles, Onopordum spp. (Asteraceae), are native plants belong to Mediterranean basin, southwest and central Asia. Their reproduction is entirely by seed and the plants are biennial. The biology of cotton thistles stem-boring weevil, Lixus cardui Olivier, was studied on Onopordum acanthium and O. leptolepis in fields and rangelands in Urmia. The results of this study showed that, the stem-boring weevil has a single generation per year and overwinters as adult whithin the dried stems of host plants. The adults emerge from the dead stems, in late April. After emerging, they start to feed on the leaf tissues of host plants and mate from time to time. Then females chew holes into the stem, and lay eggs either singly or in batches of up to 5 in a row the each hole. Females cover their eggs with plant fiber that had been chewed away to make the hole for protection. Each female laid a mean of 35±3.63 eggs during her life span. Eggs hatch 6-8 days after oviposition and the young larvae bore into the stem and feed on the tissue. The full grown larvae produce pupal cell in the stem and eventually pupate. After 9-13 days, pupa develops into a new generation of adults within the stems in summer. These adults remain inactive in the dried stems until the following spring. The total life cycle from egg to adult ranges from 37 to 48 days under natural conditions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A. & Lyal, C. H. C. 1999. A World Catalogue of Families and Genera of Curculionidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) (Excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae).Entomopraxis, S.C.P. Edition, Barcelona.
Balciunas, J. 2007. Lixus cardui, a biological control agent for scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium): Safe for Australia, but not the USA? Biological Control. 41: 134-141.
Bremer, K. 1994. Asteraceae: Cladistics and Classification, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
Briese, D. T. 1989. A new biological control programme against thistles of genus Onopordum in Australia. pp. Proceedings of the VII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Rome, MAF, 151-160.
Briese, D. T. 1996. Potential impact of the stem-boring weevil Lixus cardui on the growth and reproductive capacity of Onopordum thistles. Biocontrol Science and Technology. 6(2): 251-262.
Briese, D. T., Lane, D., Hyde-Wyatt, B., Crocker, H. J. & Diver, R. G. 1990. Distribution  of thistles of the genus Onopordum in Australia. Plant Protection Quarterly. 5: 23-27.
Briese, D. T., Pettit, W. J. & Walker, A. 2004. Evaluation of the biological control agent, Lixus cardui, on Onopordum thistles: experimental studies on agent demography and impact. Biological Control. 31: 165–171.
 Briese, D. T., Pettit, W. J. & Walker, A. D. 1996. Multiplying cages: A strategy for the rapid redistribution of agents with slow rates of increase. Proceedings of IX international Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Stellenbosch, South Africa, University of Cape town, South Africa, 243-247.
Briese, D. T., Sheppard, A. W. & Reifenberg, J. M., 1995. Open-field host specificity testing for potential biological control agents of Onopordum thistles. Biological  Control. 5: 158–166.
Briese, D. T., Sheppard, A. W., Zwölfer, H. & Boldt, P. E. 1994. Structure of the phytophagous insect fauna of Onopordum thistles in the northern Mediterranean basin. Biology Journal of the Linnaean Society. 53: 231–253.
Briese, D. T., Walker, A., Pettit, W. J., & Sagliocco, J. L. 2002. Host-specificity of candidate agents for the biological control of Onopordum spp. thistles in Australia: an assessment of testing procedures. Biocontrol Science and Technology. 12(2): 149-163.
Briese, D.T., Sheppard, A.W., Zwölfer, H. & Boldt, P.E. 1994. Structure of the phytophagous insect fauna of Onopordum thistles in the northern Mediterranean basin. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 53: 231–253.
CAB International, 2004. Crop Protection Compendium, 2004 edition. CAB International, Wallingford, UK. Available from: http://www.cabi.org/compendia/cpc/.
Dewey, S. A. 1991. Weed thistles of the western United States. pp. 247-253. In: James, L. F., Evans, J. O., Ralphs, M. H. & Child, R. D. (eds.) Noxious Range Weeds. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
Erbey, M. & Candan, S. 2010. Description of surface morphology in male and female genitals of Lixus cardui Olivier, 1807 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Lixinae) a scanning electron microscope study. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 62(3): 321-329.
Ghahreman, A. 1981. Flore de l'Iran en couleur naturelle. Publie par la Societe Nationale pour la Conservation des Ressources Naturelles et de l'Environment Humain avec la Collaboration de l'Universite de Tehran. [In Persian and France].
Ghahreman, A. 1986. Flore de l'Iran en couleur naturelle. Institut des Recherches des Forêts et des Paturages Department Botanique. [In Persian and France].
Groves R. H., Burdon J. J. & Kaye P. E. 1990. Demography and Genetics of Onopordum in southern New South Wales. Journal of Ecology, 78: 47-55.
Harizanova,V., Stoeva, A., Cristofaro, M., Paolini, A.,  Lecce, F. & Di Cristina, F. 2010. Preliminary results on the phytophagous insect fauna on Onopordum acanthium (Asteraceae) in Bulgaria. Pesticidi i Fitomedicina. 25(4): 301-309.
Harizanova V., Stoeva, A., Cristofaro, M., Paolini, A., Lecce, F., Di Cristina, F., De Biase, A. & Smith, L. 2011. Open field experiment to assess the host specificity of Lixus cardui (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a potential candidate for biological control of Onopordum acanthium (Asteraceae). XIII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds, Hilo, Hawaii, 11-16 September, 2011.
Hitchcock C.L., Cronquist A., Ownbey M., & Thompson J. W. 1955. Vascular Plants of the Pacific northwest. Vol. 5: Composiate. University of Washington Press, Seattle.  
Hooper, J. F., Young, J. A. & Evans, R. A. 1970. Economic evaluation of Scotch thistle suppression. Weed Science. 18: 583-586.
Joley D. B., Woods D. M., & Pitcairn 1998. Field studies to examine growth habit and population resurgence of Scotch thistle in northern California. CDFA Biological Control Program: Annual Report. California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Karimpour, Y. 2008. Life history of the cotton thistles capitulum weevil, Larinus latus (Col.: Curculionidae) and its impact on seed production in Urmia region, Iran. Journal of Entomological Society of Iran. 28(1): 35-50 (In Persian with English summary).
Karimpour, Y. 2011. Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) reared from capitula of Asteraceae in the Urmia region, Iran. Journal of Entomological Society of Iran. 30(2): 53-66.
Mack, R. N., Simberloff, D., Lonsdale, W. M., Evans, H. J., Clout, M., & Bazzaz, D. F. 2000. Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, clobal consequences and control. Issues in Ecology. 5: 1-20.
Mucina , L. 1989. Sytotaxonomy of the Onopordum acanthium communities in temperate and continental Europe. Vegetatio. 81: 107-115.
Nikulina, O. N. & Gültekin, L. 2011. Larval morphology of Lixus cardui Olivier and Lixus filiformis (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): biological control agents for scotch and musk thistles. Australian Journal of Entomology. 50: 253–257.
Oerke, E. C. 2006. Crop losses to pests. Journal of Agricultural Science. 144: 31-43.
Paolini A., Lecce, F., Di Cristina, F., Harizanova, V., Stoeva, A., De Biase, A., De Lillo, E., Gültekin, L. Cristofaro, M. & Smith, L. 2010. Explorations in central Asia and Mediterranean basin for the selection of specific biological control agents for Onopordum acanthium (Asteraceae) 15th European Weed Research Society Symposium, 12-15 July, Kaposvar, Hungry.
Parsons, W. T. 1981. Noxious weeds of Victoria. Inkata Press, Melbourne, Australia.
Piper, G. L. 1984. Scotch thistle: a continuing menace in the Pacific Northwest. Pacific Northwest Weed Topics. 84: 1-2.
Roberts, H. A. & Chancellor, R. J. 1979. Periodicity of seedling emergence and achene survival in some species of Carduus, Cirsium and Onopordum. Journal of Applied Ecology. 16: 641-647.
Seelan, S. K., Laguette, S., Casady, G. M., & Seielstad, G. A. 2003. Remote sensing applications for precision agriculture: A learning community approach. Remote Sensing of Environment. 88: 157-169.
Sindel, B. M. 1991. A review of the ecology and control of thistles in Australia. Weed Research. 31: 189-201.
Ter-Minassian M. E. 1967. Zhuki- dolgonosiki podsemejstva Cleoninae fauny SSSR. Tsvetozhily i stebleedy (triba Lixini). Nauka, Leninigrad.140 [+1 unnumbered] pp. (Translated 1978. Weevils of the Subfamily Cleoninae in the USSR. Tribe Lixini. ARS-USDA and National Science Foundation, Washington. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi.
Vitousek, P. M., D’Antonio, C. M., Loope, L. L., & Westbrooks, R. 1996. Biological invasions as global environmental change. American Scientist. 84: 468-479.
Watts, J. D. & Piper, G. L. 1999. The Phytophagous insect fauna of Scotch thistle, Onopordum acanthium L., in Southeastern Washington and Northwestern Idaho, pp. 233-239. In: Spencer, N. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the X international symposium on biological control of weeds. Montana State University. USA.
Young, J. A. & Evans, R. A. 1969. Control and ecological studies of Scotch thistle. Weed Science. 17, 60-63.
Zwölfer, H. & Brandl, R. 1989. Niches and size relationships in Coleoptera associated with Cardueae host
plants: adaptations to resource gradients. Oecologia. 78: 60–68.
BioControl in Plant Protection
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
January 2014
Pages 41-54

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics