Rubus argutus as a biocontrol target in Hawaii

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Information and references regarding Rubus argutus as a biocontrol target in Hawaii are provided here. For further information, contact webmaster@hear.org.

Biocontrol agent: Schreckensteinia festaliella
Status in Hawaii: Schreckensteinia festaliella (Lepidoptera, Heliodinidae) was collected and introduced to Kauai from California in 1963 to control invasive blackberry (Rubus argutus). Effects of this blackberry "skeletonizer" were noted in Kokee, Kauai at 4000 ft. elevation by 1964. It was released on Hawaii Island at Kahuku Ranch in Kau in 1966. The agent has been effective even though its eggs and larvae are frequently parasitized. The native Hawaiian raspberry, akala (Rubus hawaiensis), is an inadvertent, non-target host plant of Schreckensteinia festaliella. (For this reason--based on feedback from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture on similar issues--HEAR staff surmises that this agent would NOT have been approved under today's biocontrol release standards.)
REFERENCES

The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk (HEAR) project is currently funded by the Pacific Basin Information Node (PBIN) of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) through PIERC (USGS) with support from HCSU (UH Hilo). More details are available online.

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This page was created on 04 August 2009 by PT, and was last updated on 15 December 2009 by PT.