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Title: Prospects for the use of biological control agents against Anoplophora in Europe

Author
item BRABBS, THOMAS - The Food And Environment Research Agency
item COLLINS, DEBBIE - The Food And Environment Research Agency
item HERARD, FRANCK - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL)
item MASPERO, MATTEO - Fondazione Minoprio
item EYRE, DOMINIC - The Food And Environment Research Agency

Submitted to: Pest Management Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/2014
Publication Date: 10/14/2015
Citation: Brabbs, T., Collins, D., Herard, F., Maspero, M., Eyre, D. 2015. Prospects for the use of biological control agents against Anoplophora in Europe. Pest Management Science. 71:7-14.

Interpretive Summary: The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and the citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) are native to China and Korea where they attack a large variety of broadleaf tree species. CLB is also a major pest of citrus in Japan. ALB was accidentally imported in North America and Europe where it has become a major invasive wood-boring pest. CLB has also invaded southern Europe, where it is damaging deciduous trees. The beetles are capable of killing healthy hardwood tree species, threatening urban and forest habitats and ecosystem diversity and stability, and causing considerable economic losses. Efforts to eradicate the beetles by removing infested trees have generally not been successful. There are no effective methods to control the beetles using insecticides or traps and beetle populations are continuing to increase and expand in the invaded regions. Therefore there is interest to see if biological control methods would be possible to use. Current research on biological control has focused on five areas: entomopathogenic fungi, parasitic nematodes, entomopathogenic bacteria, parasitoids and predators. In this paper, we review the literature concerning each of these groups of biological control agents, after which we discuss the prospects for their use. It appears that an integrated pest management approach would be most suitable: it would include importation of strictly host specific parasitoids, measures to conserve natural enemies, for example to retain predatory birds, augmentation of local oligophagous parasitoids, and application of authorized formulations of micro-organisms. The review was useful to identify some existing valuable tools and some knowledge gaps to fill.

Technical Abstract: This review summarises the literature on the biological control of Anoplophora spp. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and discusses its potential for use in Europe. Entomopathogenic fungi: Beauveria brongniartii Petch (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) has already been developed into a commercial product in Japan, and fungal infection results in high mortality rates. Parasitic nematodes: Steinernema feltiae Filipjev (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) and Steinernema carpocapsae Weiser have potential for use as biopesticides as an alternative to chemical treatments. Parasitoids: a parasitoid of Anoplophora chinensis Forster, Aprostocetus anoplophorae Delvare (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), was discovered in Italy in 2002 and has been shown to be capable of parasitising up to 72% of A. chinensis eggs; some native European parasitoid species (e.g. Spathius erythrocephalus) also have potential to be used as biological control agents. Predators: two woodpecker (Piciformis: Picidae) species that are native to Europe, Dendrocopos major Beicki and Picus canus Gmelin, have been shown to be effective at controlling Anoplophora glabripennis Motschulsky in Chinese forests. The removal and destruction of infested and potentially infested trees is the main eradication strategy for Anoplophora spp. in Europe, but biological control agents could be used in the future to complement other management strategies, especially in locations where eradication is no longer possible.