KELADI SHIVAPPA NAYAKA UNIVERSITY

OF AGRICULTURAL AND
HORTICULTURAL SCIENCES,
SHIVAMOGGA

COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE, MUDIGERE.

Sub: Biological control of insect pests and weeds ( ENT 505)

Topic: Weevils in weed control.

 Topics Covered:
■ Introduction : what is weed?
■ Biological Control
■ Biological weed control
■ How are biological agents selected?
■ Weevils
■ Weevils in weed control
■ Advantages and limitations of biological control
■ Conclusion
■ Refrences.
 What is WEED ?

• “A plant out of place”

– Growing where they are not

wanted.

Mostly, exotic plants outside

their native environments (but
bearing suitable climatic
conditions) and lacking natural
enemies.
 Biological Control.
■ Biological control is the use of
living organisms to suppress
pest populations, making them
less damaging than they would
otherwise be.
■ Natural enemies of insects
play an important role in
limiting the densities of
potential pests.
■ These natural enemies include
predators, parasitoids, and
pathogens.
 Biological Weed Control
■ Biological control is the deliberate
use of a weed’s “natural enemies”
to suppress its population.
■ A weed’s natural enemies may be
arthropods (insects, mites and
their relatives), bacteria or fungi.
These “control agents” feed upon
or cause disease in the weed,
thereby limiting its growth,
reproduction and spread.
 How Are Biological Agents Selected?
■ Biological control agents are
selected very carefully. A study is
carried out overseas to identify all
the organisms found attacking a
weed.
■ Some of these species will be chosen
for further testing. Any agent
imported for biological control of a
weed must be host specific, that is,
it will only attack the target plant.
■ Stringent testing is carried out on
close relatives of the weed including
native, ornamental and crop plants.
 WEEVILS
■ Weevils, Snout beetles: Belongs to Family-Curculionidae,Order-
Coleoptera.
■ Minute to large sized insects.
■ Frons and vertex of the head are produced into snout, it is cylindrical
and in some species larger than the beetle itself.
■ Mouth parts(Mandibles and Maxillae) are present at the tip of the snout.
It is useful to feed on internal tissues of the plant and provide a place for
egglaying.
■ Antennae is geniculate and found usually in the middle of the snout.
■ Grubs are apodous and eucephalous.
 Weevils in weed control
■ Cyrtobagous salviniae and C. Singluaris : ( Curculionidae :
Coleoptera)
–The weed
• Salvinia, aquatic fern, spread by human from SE Brazil to many
tropical & subtropical regions
• Prefers warm, nitrogen-rich water
• Out of origin area, lacks natural enemies
• Became serious weed problem in its non-native range
– Can completely block waterways, without visible control method
– Chocks flow, disrupting livelihood of people depend on
waterways (transportation, Irrigation, fishing…etc.)
–The biocontrol agent
• 2 mm long weevil, Cyrtobagous salviniae
• Host specific
• Has high searching efficiency for salvinia
• No immigration with high population
• Adult feeds on salvinia buds
• Larva tunnels through buds & rhizomes & feeds externally on roots
■Smicronyx lutulentus : ( Curculionidae: Coleoptera)
■A seed-feeding weevil ( These adults feed on flower buds and seeds
hence used for the control of Parthenium hysterophorus.)
Origin
• Occurs naturally in Mexico and Texas (USA).
• Imported into quarantine in Queensland, from Mexico, in 1979 for host
testing.
• The weevil was field released between 1981 and 1983.
Biology
• Adult weevils feed on leaves and flower buds causing small perforations.
• Females lay eggs singly into flower buds.
• Hatched larvae feed on the developing seed (1 larva/seed).
• From egg to mature larva takes about 20 days at 25ºC.
• Empty seed falls to ground and mature larva enter the soil to pupate.
• Adult emergence is triggered by rainfall (10–14 days post rainfall).
Potential impact
• Adult feeding causes damage to flowers and leaves (albeit minor).
• Larval feeding causes destruction of seed.
Collection and redistribution
• Best collected as adults from young-flowering parthenium plants.
• Collect into a plastic container lined with moistened paper towel.
• Release onto young growing parthenium.
■ Neochetina eichhorniae and N. Bruchi : (Curculionidae:Coleoptera)
■ The mottled water hyacinth weevil, Neochetina eichhorniae
■ It is a beetle that has been introduced as a biological pest control
herbivore agent.
■ The adults produce characteristic feeding scars on the leaves and
petioles.
 Advantages of Biological Weed Control
■ Biological control can be cost effective in the long run.
■ A high degree of specificity of target Weed.
■ No effect on non target and beneficial plants or on man.
■ Absence of residence buildup in the environment.
■ Effectiveness for managing herbicide resistant weed populations.
 Limitations

■ The weed must be highly specialized.

■ It must in the new environment in which it has established itself.
■ It is a slow process.
 References
■ INSECTA – An Introduction: by K N Ragumoorthi, V.
Balasubramani, M R Srinivasan, N. Natarajan.
■ Entomology glossary: by T V Prasad.
■ Applied Entomology: by D S Reddy.
■ Websites like:
1. https://www.saskatchawan.com-Weeds on the prairies- What is
biological control.
2. https://umanitoba.ca- biological control of weeds.
3. Wikipedia
 Submitted to:
Dr.Suchitra kumari,
Assitant Prof.
Department of Entomology,
College of Horticulture, Mudigere. Submitted by:
Prajwal P
Jnr.Msc.(Hort.)
College of Horticulture,
Mudigere