By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source(s):
Ken Gioeli ktgioeli@ifas.ufl.edu, 772-462-1660
Nina Cottrell 772-340-0220
FORT PIERCE, Fla.—Two little biocontrol bugs with big appetites for invasive Australian melaleuca trees are now available by mail order from the University of Florida.
“South Florida residents who want to put the bite on melaleuca can now order the bugs directly from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences,” said Ken Gioeli, a St. Lucie County extension agent in Fort Pierce. “Getting these beneficial insects is as easy as a phone call or visit to our Web site.”
Gioeli is raising large numbers of the bugs in his “honeypot,” a term commonly used by scientists to describe an insect-rearing facility or insectory. One of the insects is the melaleuca weevil (Oxyops vitiosa), which is about the size of a pencil eraser, and the other is the melaleuca psyllid (Boreioglycaspis melaleucae), about the size of a gnat or ant.
“The two bugs will not completely kill melaleuca trees, but they will defoliate trees and cause them to flower less often, providing effective control of trees over a period of time,” he said. “The natural biocontrols are environmentally friendly, easy to apply and less expensive than chemical herbicides. And they are not a threat to people, animals or other plants.”
He said the weevil helps control melaleuca by feeding on leaves and flower buds. Seed production has been reduced by about 50 percent on trees they attack.
Unlike the weevil, which is restricted to dry habitats, the melaleuca psyllid can invade any melaleuca habitat and may be the most effective of the two bugs, Gioeli said. The psyllid feeds on melaleuca’s clear sap, severely damaging seedlings.
Nina Cottrell, a spray technician with the St. Lucie West Service District, ordered 30 weevils and said she is beginning to see results four months after they were released in a wetland area behind Lake Forest.
“I think the UF mail order service is a great idea,” she said. “It is a more effective way of controlling melaleuca than spraying chemicals, and it’s more environmentally friendly.”
The two beneficial insects, imported from Australia by U.S. Department of Agriculture and UF scientists, are the result of more than 16 years of research on natural or biological controls for the invasive tree species. Scientists released the weevil in 1997 and released the psyllid in 2002.
Gioeli, a natural resources expert, said the insects were released after careful testing and an extensive quarantine period to make sure they will not become a problem in South Florida’s fragile environment. Because melaleuca trees are native to Australia, scientists searched for and found natural insect predators in that country.
The Australian tree was brought to Florida in the mid-1880s. Since then, it has spread quickly throughout South Florida, displacing native plant and animal communities, drying up wetlands, creating fire hazards and threatening the stability of the Everglades ecosystem, he said. Melaleuca trees are not as common north of Orlando as they are in South Florida.
Attempts to control melaleuca with herbicides and mechanical methods have been expensive and not always successful. In fact, cutting or mowing the trees seems to spread tree seeds even more, he said.
Gioeli said the bugs will shipped to residents in South Florida or wherever melaleuca is a problem. He said the natural predators are shipped in small plastic containers and survive well during transit. The mail order packages include approximately 25 to 40 weevils and 15 melaleuca branch tips inoculated with the psyllid predators.
For mail orders, there is a $15 handling and shipping fee. For those who visit the UF Extension Service at 8400 Picos Road in Fort Pierce and collect their own bugs at the site, there is no fee. The bugs can be ordered by calling Gioeli at 772-462-1660 or downloading order forms from his Web site: http://kgioeli.ifas.ufl.edu
Gioeli is also working with UF Manatee County Extension Agent Frank Melton in Palmetto and Polk County Extension Agent John Brenneman in Bartow, who are preparing to raise the bugs for residents in West Central Florida.
-30-
0
