''Aphthona czwalinae'' is a species of
leaf beetle known as the black leafy spurge flea beetle. It is used as an agent of
biological pest control
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...
against the
noxious weed
A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...
leafy spurge Leafy spurge may refer to several species of plant in the genus ''Euphorbia'', including:
* '' Euphorbia esula'', native to central and southern Europe
* ''Euphorbia virgata
''Euphorbia virgata'', commonly known as leafy spurge, wolf's milk leaf ...
(''Euphorbia esula'').
The adult beetle is shiny black and about 3 millimeters long. The female lays eggs on the soil next to leafy spurge, its host plant, during the summer months. The
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
emerges in 16 or 17 days. It is white with a light brown head. It goes to work feeding on the roots of the plant throughout the winter and spring and then
pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
tes in the soil until emerging as an adult in early summer. As the larvae weaken the roots the adults feed on the leaves and flowers of the plant, killing the plant outright or allowing infection by opportunistic fungi.
This beetle is native to eastern Europe and central Asia. It was first released as a biocontrol agent for leafy spurge in the United States in the late 1980s. It was thought to be a major factor is the success of biocontrol efforts for leafy spurge until it was discovered that most of what was thought to be ''A. czwalinae'' was in fact ''A. lacertosa''. With this realization ''A. czwalinae'' stopped being an important component in Aphthona leafy spurge control.
''A. czwalinae'' had not been verified to persist in North Dakota or Minnesota for several years,
until Roehrdanz documented it in Eastern Montana in 2006.
References
* Coombs, E. M., et al., Eds. (2004). ''Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States''. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 239.
External links
Cornell Biocontrol Profile
Alticini
Insects used for control of invasive plants
Biological pest control beetles
Beetles described in 1888
Taxa named by Julius Weise
{{Galerucinae-stub