Biological Control
Of Invasive Plants
Information Retrieval System
|
Biological Control |
| University of Florida | Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant Information Retrieval System |
Water lettuce is another floating plant
that often causes problems in Florida and elsewhere in the southeastern US, and
in other countries.
The first biocontrol research for water
lettuce took place in Australia in the early 1980s. There, researchers
released a
South American weevil, Neohydronomous affinis. Based on their success, work
accomplished in the US resulted in the 1987 release of the weevil in Florida. The adults feed on
the leaf while the larvae mine inside the leaf. Its short life cylcle of 30 days allows rapid
population development. Eighteen months after release of the weevils at a site on Lake
Okeechobee, Florida, the entire 75-acre mat of water lettuce was eliminated. The weevils
continue to spread.
Another insect, a moth from Thailand,
has been
released in the US and native populations have been augmented in Thailand. This moth,
Spodoptera pectinicornis (formerly Namangana pectinicornis), has a life
cycle of about 35 days; only the larvae feed on the plant, but they do cause extensive damage.
The APIRS office does not have photographs of these water lettuce biocontrol
insects. If you
have slides that we can use here, please contact us: CAIP-WEBSITE@ufl.edu