The Housefly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, as an Exotic Species in the Western Hemisphere Incites Biological Control Studies

1966 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Legner ◽  
C. W. McCoy

AbstractThe significance of the housefly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, as a probably introduced species in the Western Hemisphere is pertinent to a search for more exotic natural enemies in the Eastern Hemisphere. Avenues of entry into this hemisphere are discussed. A list is provided of the principal larval and pupal parasites found by the authors attacking M. domestica in North, Central, and South America and this is compared to species from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Author(s):  
Judith H. Myers

The movement of humans around the earth has been associated with an amazing redistribution of a variety of organisms to new continents and exotic islands. The natural biodiversity of native communities is threatened by new invasive species, and many of the most serious insect and weed pests are exotics. Classical biological control is one approach to dealing with nonindigenous species. If introduced species that lack natural enemies are competitively superior in exotic habitats, introducing some of their predators (herbivores), diseases, or parasitoids may reduce their population densities. Thus, the introduction of more exotic species may be necessary to reduce the competitive superiority of nonindigenous pests. The intentional introduction of insects as biological control agents provides an experimental arena in which adaptations and interactions among species may be tested. We can use biological control programs to explore such evolutionary questions as: What characteristics make a natural enemy a successful biological control agent? Does coevolution of herbivores and hosts or predators (parasitoids) and prey result in few species of natural enemies having the potential to be successful biological control agents? Do introduced natural enemies make unexpected host range shifts in new environments? Do exotic species lose their defense against specialized natural enemies after living for many generations without them? If coevolution is a common force in nature, we expect biological control interactions to demonstrate a dynamic interplay between hosts and their natural enemies. In this chapter, I consider biological control introductions to be experiments that might yield evidence on how adaptation molds the interactions between species and their natural enemies. I argue that the best biological control agents will be those to which the target hosts have not evolved resistance. Classical biological control is the movement of natural enemies from a native habitat to an exotic habitat where their host has become a pest. This approach to exotic pests has been practiced since the late 1800s, when Albert Koebele explored the native habitat of the cottony cushion scale, Icrya purchasi, in Australia and introduced Vadalia cardinalis beetles (see below) to control the cottony cushion scale on citrus in California. This control has continued to be a success.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Fediuk de Castro-Guedes ◽  
Rodrigo de Vilhena Perez Dios ◽  
Lúcia Massutti de Almeida

Abstract. Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) is a Coccinellidae species originating from northeast Asia and used in biological control of aphids. As an exotic species is very important to know its natural enemies. Thus, this paper provides the first record of Strongygaster brasiliensis (Towsend)(Diptera: Tachinidae) parasitizing H. axyridis in Southern Brazil.Parasitismo de Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) por Strongygaster brasiliensis (Towsend)(Diptera: Tachinidae)Resumo. Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) é uma espécie de Coccinellidae originária do Nordeste da Ásia e utilizada como agente de controle biológico de afídeos. Como é uma espécie invasora é muito importante conhecer seus inimigos naturais. Dessa forma, este trabalho fornece o primeiro registro de Strongygaster brasiliensis (Towsend)(Diptera: Tachinidae) parasitando H. axyridis no sul do Brasil.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4527 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLÁUDIA F. MARINHO ◽  
VALMIR A. COSTA ◽  
ROBERTO A. ZUCCHI

The braconid parasitoids of fruit-infesting flies have been more intensively studied from the middle to late 1990s, when taxonomic research was restarted in Brazil. At the same time, efforts toward the biological control of fruit flies intensified, and an exotic species, Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, was introduced. In the decade 2010, another exotic species, Fopius arisanus, was introduced, and two new species of Doryctobracon were described.  Currently, 12 species of braconids from the subfamilies Alysiinae (two species) and Opiinae (10 species) are associated with fruit flies of economic importance in Brazil, two of which are introduced species. More than half of the species belong to the genus Doryctobracon, with D. areolatus (Szépligeti) the most widely distributed species in Brazil. 


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Briano ◽  
Luis Calcaterra ◽  
Laura Varone

We review the fire ant research conducted by the ARS-South American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL) since 1987 to find a complex of natural enemies in southern South America and evaluate their specificity and suitability for field release as self-sustaining biological control agents. We also include those studies conducted by the ARS-Center for Medical, Agriculture, and Veterinary Entomology in the United States with the SABCL collaboration. Ecological and biological information is reported on local fire ants and their microsporidia, nematodes, viruses, phorid flies, eucharitid wasps, strepsiptera, and parasitic ants. Their biology, abundance, distribution, detrimental effect, field persistence, specificity, and phenology are discussed. We conclude that the objectives of the ARS program in South America are being achieved and that the pioneering studies have served to encourage further investigations in the United States and other countries and advanced the implementation of biological control programs to decrease imported fire ant densities and damage. Still, several promising organisms should be further investigated for eventual field release in the near future.


1958 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Simmonds

In an intensive study, begun in 1955, on the biological control of Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targ.) and Pulvinaria psidii Mask. on oleander (Nerium oleander) in Bermuda, several species of COCCINELLIDAE were successfully established, but none developed a population sufficient to control either scale. The failure of these apparently suitable species of Coccinellids was therefore investigated. It seemed possible that insectivorous lizards, which are very abundant everywhere, might be responsible.Dissection of a number of lizards, Anolis grahami, and A. leachi, in the autumn and winter indicated that at both these times their effect on the natural enemies of scale insects in general and of Pseudaulacaspis pentagona and Pulvinaria psidii in particular, was considerable. Both Coccinellids and Hymenopterous parasites were eaten in large numbers. A surprising number of very small insects including ants, was eaten, and although a number of the insects eaten are harmful, on balance it would appear that, particularly with regard to the biological control of scale insects, the elimination from Bermuda of these lizards, which are introduced species, would be beneficial.Experiments are being carried out to test this, and the introduction of predacious birds, particularly that of the Trinidad kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus, is planned.


EDIS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Cuda ◽  
Patricia Prade ◽  
Carey R. Minteer-Killian

In the late 1970s, Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae), was targeted for classical biological control in Florida because its invasive properties (see Host Plants) are consistent with escape from natural enemies (Williams 1954), and there are no native Schinus spp. in North America. The lack of native close relatives should minimize the risk of damage to non-target plants from introduced biological control agents (Pemberton 2000). [...]


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document