2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The environmentally safe, sustainable suppression of exotic invasive species which threaten natural agricultural and urban ecosystems in the US with an emphasis on weeds. To achieve this goal we will address the following areas: prioritizing and evaluating suitable target species for control; conducting surveys to discover natural enemies; studying the ecology of target species and determining the impact of their suppression on ecosystems; conducting risk analysis of potential biological control organisms; and releasing, establishing, evaluating, and transferring biological control agents against target species. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Survey foreign nations for potential biolgical control agents, determine host-specificity of candidate species, release approved agents into natural and agricultural ecosystems, and evaluate influence of agents on target weed and non-target species population dynamics. Study molecular genetic target weeds. Study their roles as insect feeding attractants/deterrents, effects on biological control agents' nutritional and reproductive physiology, and possible use in host-specificity protocols. Study biological control agents' impact on competition between target weeds and non-target native plants. Identify ways to incorporate biological control agents into IPM strategies. Survey water bodies in Connecticut for presence of troublesome aquatic weeds. 3.Progress Report APHIS permitted release of the Lygodium gall mite Floracarus perrepae, and it was imported to Fort Lauderdale. Manobia sp. flea beetles, which feed on Lygodium fronds, were imported from Thailand to the Gainesville. Studies with a new Lygodium stem borer discovered in Hong Kong suggest it will be readily cultured for evaluation. 110 individuals of the Lygodium moth Austromusotima camptozonale were released at field sites. Host trials continued with the Lygodium sawfly Neostromboceros albicomus, and colonies of the Lygodium moth Neomusotima conspurcatalis were maintained in anticipation of APHIS permission to release. The skunk vine flea beetle Trachyaphthona nigrita was imported from Japan to Gainesville; preliminary testing suggests this species is a narrow specialist. Host testing on the Nepalese air potato beetle Liliocerus sp. indicates this insect is a very narrow specialist. DNA studies on the invasive lobate lac scale showed this is a new species known only from its invasive range of Florida, the Bahamas, and Christmas Island. Surveys in Southeast Asia located either the same or a very similar lobate lac scale. Parasite-infested Asian scales were imported to the Fort Lauderdale quarantine to emerge parasitoids for identification and host trials. A 5-year field study definitively quantified the impact of the biological control agents on Melaleuca plant density by maintaining true controls with insecticides. Densities of Melaleuca populations protected from biological control were unchanged over the study period while unprotected populations declined 47.9%. A 3-year small plot study quantified the influences of herbivory, water, and chemotype on Melaleuca growth and reproduction. The biological control insects reduced total tree biomass by 77.4%, leaf biomass by 79.6%, plant height by 41.8%, and the number of seed capsule clusters by 98.6%. Population dynamics studies on the psyllid Borieoglycaspis melalucae and its interactions with predators were continued. Long term studies were also continued on the current invasive capacity of Melaleuca, the decomposition dynamics of Melaleuca and slash pine, Pinus elliotti, and the impact of Melaleuca management on soil biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling. Over 1600 adult Fergusonina turneri, the melaleuca bud gall fly, were transferred from Gainesville to Fort Lauderdale for rearing or field release. Host range tests were completed on the melaleuca stem gall fly, Lophodiplosis trifida, and the petition for its release was submitted to APHIS in May. A portion of the colony was transferred from Gainesville to the Fort Lauderdale quarantine for colonization, quarantine studies, and eventual release if permitted. Development of rearing methods for the melaleuca clipper weevil, Haplonyx multicolor, continued and two shipments of this weevil were imported from Australia. Host range testing with Megamelus scutellaris on waterhyacinth in the Fort Lauderdale quarantine facility comprised no-choice transfer testing on 60 plant species this year. Field based ecological studies on Eichhornia crassipes were initiated to establish baseline data prior to biological control agent releases. 4.Accomplishments Lygodium biocontrol agent approved: The Old World climbing fern, Lygodium microphyllum, is an aggressive invader of Florida’s Everglades ecosystems that has, during the past two decades, expanded its range from a few thousand acres to more than 100,000 acres. Continued expansion threatens to undermine multi-billion dollar efforts to restore these Everglades ecosystems to a more natural condition. In culmination of several years of research, IPRL scientists this year obtained APHIS approval to release an Australian strain of the Lygodium gall mite, Floracarus perrepae, as a biological control of this insidious invasive plant. This mite, in conjunction with other biological control agents, has the potential to halt or dramatically reduce the rate of spread of Lygodium in the Everglades. National Program #304: Crop Protection and Quarantine, Component IX - Biological Control of Weeds, Problem Statements: A. Agent Discovery and Selection and Risk Assessment. 6.Technology Transfer Number of non-peer reviewed presentations and proceedings 19 Review Publications Jongejans, E., Skarpaas, O., Tipping, P.W., Shea, K. 2006. Establishment and spread of founding populations of an invasive thistle: the role of competition and seed limitation. Biological Invasions. 9:317-325. Blackwood, J.S., Dresner, M., Luh, H. 2006. Qualitative ecological modeling. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology. 14(26). Available:http://tiee.ecoed.net Boughton, A.J., Hoover, K., Felton, G.W. 2006. Impact of chemical elicitor applications on greenhouse tomato plants and population growth of green peach aphids. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 120:175-188. Blackwood, J.S., Pratt, P.D. 2007. New host and expanded geographic range of the stellate scale, Vinsonia stellifera (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Coccidae: Ceroplastinae). Florida Entomologist. 90:413-414. Lee, J., Pemberton, R.W. 2007. Seasonal phenology and age specific parasitism in the Apple Ermine moth in Korea. Entomological Research (Korea). 37:59-64. Schroer, S., Pemberton, R.W. 2007. Host acceptance tests of parasitoids from Indian Paratachardina lobata on the invasive lobate lac scale in Florida. Florida Entomologist. 90:545-552. Madeira, P.T., Coetzee, J.A., Center, T.D., White, E.E., Tipping, P.W. 2007. The origin of Hydrilla verticillata recently discovered at a South African dam. Aquatic Botany. 87:176-180 Wheeler, G.S., Pemberton, R.W., Raz, L. 2007. A biological control feasibility study of the invasive weed-air potato, Dioscorea bulbifera l. (dioscoreaceae): an effort to increase biological control transparency and safety. Natural Areas Journal. 27(3):269-279. Pratt, P.D., Morath, S., Silvers, C.S., Center, T.D. 2006. Herbivory by Boreioglycaspis melaleucae (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) accelerates foliar degradation and abscission in the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia. Environmental Entomology. 35(5):1372-1378. Wilson, J.R., Center, T.D., Hill, M., Julien, M.H., Katagira, F.F., Hjoka, S.W., Ogwang, J., Reeder, R.H., Van, T.K. 2007. The decline of water hyacinth on Lake Victoria was due to biological control by Neochetina spp. Aquatic Botany. 87:90-93. Wheeler, G.S., Ordung, K.M. 2006. Lack of an induced response following fire and herbivory of two chemotypes of Melaleuca quinquenervia and its effect on two biological control agents. Biological Control. 39:154-161. Center, T.D., Pratt, P.D., Tipping, P.W., Rayamajhi, M.B., Van, T.K., Wineriter, S.A., Dray Jr, F.A., Purcell, M. 2006. Field colonization, population growth, and dispersal of Boreioglycaspis melaleucae, a biological control agent of the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia. Biological Control. 39:363-374. Stanley, J.N., Julien, M.H., Center, T.D. 2007. Development and impact of the biological control agent Xubida infusella on the target weed Eichhornia crassipes and on a non-target plant, Pontederia cordata in two nutrient regimes. Biological Control. 40:298-305. Center, T.D., Pratt, P.D., Tipping, P.W., Rayamajhi, M.B., Van, T.K., Wineriter, S.A., Dray Jr, F.A. 2007. Initial impacts and field validation of host range for Boreioglycaspis melaleucae a biological control agent of the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia. Environmental Entomology. 36(3):569-576. Ferriter, A., Doren, R., Goodyear, C., Thayer, D., Burch, J., Toth, L., Bodle, M., Lane, J., Schmitz, D., Pratt, P.D., Snow, S., Langeland, K. 2006. The status of nonindigenous species in the south Florida environment. In: G. Redfield, ed. South Florida Environmental Report, South Florida Water Management District. West Palm Beach, FL: p. 9-1 through 9-101. Liu, H., Stiling, P., Pemberton, R.W., Pena, J. 2006. Insect faunal diversity among invasive, non-invasive and native congeners and implications for the enemy release hypothesis. Florida Entomologist. 89:475-484. White, S.E., Tipping, P.W., Becnel, J.J. 2007. First isolation of a Helicosporidium sp. (Chlorophyta: Trebouxiophyceae) from the biological control agent Cyrtobagous salviniae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Biological Control. 40:243-245. Wheeler, G.S., Center, T.D. 2007. Hydrilla stems and tubers as hosts for three Bagous species: two introduced biological control agents (Bagous hydrillae and B. affinis) and one native species (B. restrictus). Environmental Entomology. 36(2):409-415. Howard, F.W., Pemberton, R.W., Hodges, G., Steinberg, B., Mcclean, D., Liu, H. 2007. Host plant range of lobate lac scale, Paratachardina lobata, in Florida. Proceedings of Florida State Horticultural Society. 119:398-408. Pemberton, R.W., Liu, H. 2007. Control and persistence of native Opuntia on Nevis and St. Kitts, fity years after the introduction of Cactoblastis cactorum. Biological Control. 41:272-282. Wheeler, G.S., Pratt, P.D., Giblin-Davis, R.M., Ordung, K. 2007. Intraspecific variation of Melaleuca quinquenervia leaf oils in its naturalized range in Florida, the Caribbean, and Hawaii. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 35(8):489-500.