[MAIPC] biological control for Japanese Honeysuckle

[Marc Imlay]

A butterfly is being used in New Zealand to control Japanese Honeysuckle. It
is probably not host specific for America. But be on the look out for a
native American moth or pathogen controlling Japanese Honeysuckle in
America.  As Matt says "Also the more eyes we have looking for severe
dieback events, the better our odds."

 

Marc Imlay, PhD, 

Chair, MAIPC Biological Control Working Group 

Natural Places Committee Chair, Maryland Sierra Club

Conservation Biologist, Park Ranger Office, Non-native Invasive Plant
Control Coordinator. 

Natural and Historical Resources Division

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

 

 

JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE APPLICATION (WHITE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY)



An application to release the white admiral butterfly (Limenitis glorifica)
was approved by the EPA in August 2013. This is the first of several
proposed biocontrol agents that will work together to help control Japanese
honeysuckle in New Zealand.

https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/plants/weeds
/biocontrol/approvals/completed/japanese-honeysuckle

 

From: Tancos, Matthew - ARS < <mailto:Matthew.Tancos at ARS.USDA.GOV>
Matthew.Tancos at ARS.USDA.GOV> 
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 4:03 PM
To:  <mailto:ialm at erols.com> ialm at erols.com; Jil Swearingen <
<mailto:jilswearingen at gmail.com> jilswearingen at gmail.com>
Subject: Biological control of invasive weeds

 

Hello Marc and Jil,

 

Things have started to settle down with the new position, and I wanted to
reach out to the both of you. Just to clarify, our mission has switched from
investigating foreign pathogens to exclusively focusing on endemic pathogens
to control invasive weed populations. Due to my limited staff and resources,
I won't be able to target all of these important invasive species at once
(multiple stakeholders). However, I plan to focus my efforts on several key
players and hope we are able to identify some promising pathogens.
Identifying a potential pathogen will require being at the right place at
the right time when disease initially develops; however, I remain
optimistic!  We are currently evaluating some pathogens for swallow-wort,
Japanese hop, mile-a-minute, oriental bittersweet, and Japanese honeysuckle.
I would really like to target invasive weeds colonizing wetland and riparian
environments due to the importance of the Chesapeake Bay to our region. 

 

I think it will be very challenging to identify a promising pathogen on
wavyleaf basketgrass due to its recent introduction. Approximately 30 years
isn't a lot of time for a new pathogen to emerge, but maybe I'm wrong. I
would also be interested in looking at Ranunculus ficaria due to its ability
to really outcompete in wetland/riparian environments. I can't make any
promises as to finding a potential pathogen, but we can give it a shot! Also
the more eyes we have looking for severe dieback events, the better our
odds.

 

Best,

-Matt

 

 

    Matthew A. Tancos, PhD.

    Research Plant Pathologist

    USDA Agricultural Research Service

    Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit

    1301 Ditto Avenue

    Fort Detrick, MD 21702

    Tel: 301-619-2866

 







---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20190420/381a85a6/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 264420 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.maipc.org/pipermail/maipc-maipc.org/attachments/20190420/381a85a6/attachment-0001.jpg>