Identity of a microsporidium from three New Zealand pasture insects: Costelytra zealandica (Coleoptera, scarabeidae), Wiseana spp. (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae), and Listronotus bonariensis (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel) Coleoptera: Curculionidae Attacks Lolium spp. and other pasture grasses and cereals. Information is given on the geographical distribution in SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, New Zealand.

Download Full-text

Susceptibility of redheaded cockchafer Adoryphorus couloni in New Zealand to Metarhizium anisopliae strain DATF001 (Chaferguard)

New Zealand Plant Protection ◽

10.30843/nzpp.2009.62.4830 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 62 ◽

pp. 395-395

Author(s):

M. Brownbridge ◽

R.J. Townsend ◽

T.L. Nelson ◽

B. Gicquel ◽

M. Gengos

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Metarhizium Anisopliae ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Biocontrol Agent ◽

Early Winter ◽

Mode Of Application ◽

Costelytra Zealandica ◽

Direct Incorporation ◽

Human Recreation

The Australian pasture pest Adoryphorus couloni (redheaded cockchafer RHCC) continues to slowly spread from the Port Hills and Banks Peninsula through Christchurch towards productive agricultural land on the Canterbury Plains There are currently no products chemical or biological registered in New Zealand to control this pest In Christchurch several parks used extensively for human recreation were badly damaged by RHCC grubs in the autumn/early winter of 2008 and had to be treated with chemical insecticides (diazinon) Laboratory trials were thus carried out to assess the susceptibility of New Zealand populations of RHCC to a microbial biocontrol agent Metarhizium anisopliae DATF001 (ChaferGuard) registered in Australia Fungal activity was directly influenced by temperature and mode of application Infection and mortality occurred faster at 20C than 15C High mortality levels (90100 after 7 weeks) were obtained when larvae were treated by topical application (105 conidia/grub) or exposure to the dry ChaferGuard formulation in soil; >80 of the cadavers in these treatments were mycosed Direct incorporation of conidia into soil was the least effective treatment Grass grub (Costelytra zealandica) was unaffected by the fungus This trial confirmed the efficacy of DATF001 and its potential for use against New Zealand populations of RHCC

Download Full-text

Tall fescue use on dairy farms

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.1997.59.2236 ◽

1997 ◽

pp. 163-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

G.D. Milne ◽

R. Shaw ◽

R. Powell ◽

B. Pirie ◽

J. Pirie

Keyword(s):

Tall Fescue ◽

Festuca Arundinacea ◽

Animal Health ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Moisture Stress ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Costelytra Zealandica ◽

Listronotus Bonariensis ◽

Summer Growth

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is now well proven on New Zealand dairy farms as a pasture species capable of producing high levels of milk production. Compared with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) it offers benefits of higher annual and summer growth, higher clover contents in pasture, higher green leaf to stem ratios in summer, reduced plant pulling, better animal health, grass grub (Costelytra zealandica) and Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis) tolerance, tolerance of wet soils, and drought tolerance and growth. Tall fescue can be recommended for dairy farmers in areas where summer growth and quality of ryegrass is reduced by moisture stress or high temperatures, and for those willing to adjust their grazing and establishment practices to suit tall fescue. Keywords: dairy farms, Festuca arundinacea, tall fescue

Download Full-text

Endophytic Fungi in Indigenous Australasian Grasses Associated with Toxicity to Livestock

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.64.2.601-606.1998 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 601-606 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Christopher O. Miles ◽

Margaret E. di Menna ◽

Surrey W. L. Jacobs ◽

Ian Garthwaite ◽

Geoffrey A. Lane ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Perennial Ryegrass ◽

High Performance ◽

Ergot Alkaloids ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Herbarium Specimens ◽

Causative Agents ◽

Listronotus Bonariensis ◽

First Time ◽

Slow Growing

ABSTRACT Grazing of Echinopogon spp. by livestock in Australia has caused symptoms similar to those of perennial ryegrass staggers. We observed an endophytic fungus in the intercellular spaces of the leaves and seeds of New Zealand and Australian specimens of Echinopogon ovatus. Culture of surface-sterilized seeds from New Zealand specimens yielded a slow-growing fungus. An examination in which immunoblotting and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used indicated that E. ovatus plants from Australia and New Zealand were infected with fungi serologically related toNeotyphodium lolii (the endophyte of perennial ryegrass) and other Epichloe and Neotyphodium spp. endophytic in pooid grasses. No lolitrems (the indole–diterpenoids implicated as the causative agents of perennial ryegrass staggers), peramine analogs, or ergot alkaloids were detected in the infected specimens by high-performance liquid chromatography or ELISA. However, in endophyte-infected E. ovatus plants from New Zealand, analogs of the indole–diterpenoid paxilline (thought to be a biosynthetic precursor of the lolitrems and related tremorgens) were detected by ELISA, and N-formylloline was detected by gas chromatography. Endophyte-free specimens of New Zealand E. ovatus did not contain detectable paxilline analogs or lolines and were more palatable than infected specimens to adults of the pasture pest Listronotus bonariensis (Argentine stem weevil). Hyphae similar to those of the E. ovatus endophyte were also found in herbarium specimens of Echinopogon nutans var. major, Echinopogon intermedius, Echinopogon caespitosus, andEchinopogon cheeli. This appears to be the first time that an endophytic Neotyphodium species has been identified in grasses endemic to New Zealand or Australia.

Download Full-text