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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Lauderdale, Florida » Invasive Plant Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #159108
Title: DULINIUS CONCHATUS (HEMIPTERA:TINGIDAE), CONSIDERED AND REJECTED AS A POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENT OF PAEDERIA FOETIDA, AN INVASIVE WEED IN HAWAII AND FLORIDA

Author
item Pemberton, Robert
item MUARI, KENNETH - HI DEPT OF AGRI.
item Pratt, Paul
item TERAMOTO, KENNETH - HI DEPT OF AGRI.

Submitted to: Hawaiian Entomological Society Proceedings
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/20/2003
Publication Date: 12/20/2003
Citation: Pemberton, R.W., Muari, K., Pratt, P.D., Teramoto, K. 2003. Dulinius conchatus (hemiptera:tingidae), considered and rejected as a potential biological control agent of paederia foetida, an invasive weed in hawaii and florida. Hawaiian Entomological Society Proceedings.

Interpretive Summary: Skunk vine, Paederia foetida, is an invasive vine of natural areas and horticultural crops in Florida and Hawaii. A biological control program has been developed to attempt to bring the weed under control. Surveys were conducted in Japan, part of its Asian native range, and the lace bug, Dulinius conchatus, was collected and sent to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture Quarantine in Honolulu for study. This sucking insect is native to India but accidentally introduced to Japan during the 1990s, where it causes considerable damage to skunk vine plants. Skunk vine belongs to the coffee family (the Rubiaceae), and both Florida and Hawaii have many economic and native plants in this family. Biological control agents of skunk vine must be have host ranges limited to skunk vine and a few related plants in order to not harm valued coffee family plants in Florida and Hawaii. A 19th century paper indicated that the lace bug was breeding on noni, Morinda citrifolia in India. This plant is an important medicinal plant in Hawaii and although a member of the coffee family, it is not closely related to skunk vine. Quarantine studies determined that the lace bug is able to breed as well on noni as on skunk vine, completing numerous successive generations. This result indicates that the host range of the lace bug is unacceptably broad and that the insect would likely accept and damage many coffee family plants if introduced for skunk vine control. For this reason this damaging but unsafe insect was dropped from consideration as a potential biological control agent of skunk vine. Other promising insects are known to attack skunk vine in Japan, Nepal and Thailand, and some of these are under study.

Technical Abstract: No technical abstract is associated with this paper.