2008 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Search for, identify, and prioritize biological control agents for Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), perennial pepperweed (Lipidium latifolium), yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitualis), medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae), Russian thistle (Salsola spp.), Afrian rue (Peganum harmala) and other U.S. invasive weeds from Kazakhstan and central Asia. Determine host range in both field and laboratory. Determine the life and seasonal history, method of feeding, mating, oviposition, pupation and overwintering in the field and laboratory. Develop methods of rearing in the laboratory. Ship living cultures to the U.S. Quarantine Facility, free of parasites and pathogens if possible. Confirm agent identity and establish voucher collection. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Candidate insects, mites or plant pathogens will be found by searching the literature and museum collections and by original field surveys. Identify potential control agents through comparison with published taxonomic works and museum collections, and/or consultation with taxonomic specialists. Convert into electronic format the biological literature found that relates to our mutual interest and that is poorly preserved, translate the titles and citations into English and Russian, and make it available to U.S., and other science libraries of the world. Prioritize candidates based on host range, biology and ecology, according to published criteria and in consultation with the ADODR. The critical host-range determinations will be evaluated from literature and museum records, by field collections on the target weed and on other species of the target weed genus and family and by formal laboratory tests. Life history, ecology (including parasitism and predation of control insects), and seasonal history will be measured both in the field and in the laboratory. Laboratory rearing methods will be developed so that the species can be reared through all stages to allow a good reproductive rate and minimal mortality on potted host plants, so that rearing can be successful when they arrive in the U.S. Arthropod Containment Facility (quarantine). Collect and ship candidate control agents to the U.S. quarantine as per standard shipping procedures and per USDA-ARS-PPQ permitting authorities and as requested by the ADODR. Shipped insects should be free of parasites, predators, and pathogens as much as possible. Reports of research progress, complete with tables, graphs and illustrations, will be submitted annually, and with brief quarterly reports. Payment will be made following the submission of appropriate invoices and research reports. First publication of results will be in English. 3.Progress Report Saltcedar. Collaborators during 2007 made 16 field trips of several days each to Lavar, Chilik, and to the middle Ili River Valley to monitor saltcedar. Crastina tamaricina (Homptera: Psyllidae; foliage and flower galler). The 4th instar nymphs overwinter on the saltcedar trunks; they moved to foliage buds by 11 April and formed galls 15-30 April where they and 5th instars developed. Adults appeared 30 May, with mass flights to flower buds 9-11 June, 1st-3rd instars developed in flower galls until 25 July, then 4th instars, which began overwintering on the trunks from the last of October to early November. At Lavar and Buryndysu, the foliage terminals on many bushes was 90-100% galled in May-June and flower buds at all sites were 70-98% galled during July and August. Trabutina serpentina (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) (manna mealybug, small twig sap suckers). Second-instar larvae overwintered in the foam-wax egg pouches on small branches, 75 eggs at Zhingilsu but only 41 at Chilik. Some Trabutina galls were found on the Crastina galls. Second generation females appeared the last of July, but larvae of ladybeetles ate most of the larvae in the egg pouches, but parasitoids were not found. Diorhabda elongata (leaf beetle). In the frequent surveys of the Chilik area, our collaborators found the earliest emergence of overwintering adults ever (April 10-11) because of the warm spring. They tracked populations of two adult generations, which mostly diapaused by late September. At Chilik, they found only the second area of large Diorhabda defoliation in 14 years (0.5 ha of T. leptostachys 98-100% defoliated), on 6 August (the other was in 1998) but populations in other areas were low. They also saw that removal of the litter under the saltcedar greatly reduced beetle populations – an area of T. leptostachys that burned in 2004 and then had low level flooding, both of which reduced the litter, had only 5 adults per tree while a nearby area not burned or flooded had 12 adults per tree. Populations of 5 other candidate insects surveyed (Coniatus steveni, foliage-feeding weevil; Liocleonus clathratus, root-galling weevil; Adiscodiaspis tamaricola, scale; and 2 stem gallers – Amblypalpis tamaricella (moth) and Psectrosema noxium (midge)) all have been declining in population for the last several years, caused by flooding of several good sites when the Kapchagay reservoir dam was built, annual fires along the Ili River, cutting for firewood, and strong parasitoid attack on the remaining small populations. For Russian olive, the cooperators in mid-May made 3 trips to locate additional research sites for the leaf beetle, Altica balossogloi, the most promising control insect. They found 3 new sites along the lower Ili River and the Karatal River (all with low populations) and a good population at the 2004 site at Topar village where they collected adults for testing. Coordination is through cooperator visits and via e-mails.