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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
IPM Enhancement Grants |
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Project Title:
Evaluating the gall midge Orseolia javanica, a biocontrol agent for enhancing cogongrass IPM |
Project Director (PD):
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Lead State: FL Lead Organization: University of Florida |
| Undesignated Funding: $28,574 |
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Start Date: Mar-01-2019 End Date: Feb-28-2020 |
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Pests Involved: Cogongrass |
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Area of Emphasis: Cogongrass IPM |
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Summary:
Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) is a diploid C4 rhizomatous grass that is a noxious weed in over 70 countries where it threatens global biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. Recent genetic analyses identified four distinct non-hybridizing clonal lineages of cogongrass in the USA. In Florida and other southeastern states, this invasive grass infests cattle pastures, pine plantations, and thrives in poor soil conditions such as ditch banks, roadside and railroad rights-of-way as well as reclaimed phosphate-mining areas. Control of cogongrass relies primarily on mowing and herbicide applications. The Indonesian gall midge Orseolia javanica Kieffer and van Leeuwen-Reijinvaan is a potential biological control agent of cogongrass. Larval feeding induces the formation of hollow, sterile shoot galls in which one larva develops. These galls serve as nutrient “sinks” that divert rhizome resources away from normal shoot production. According to literature, the only reported host plant for O. javanica is cogongrass. However, it is not known the extent to which O. javanica will develop and reproduce on the Florida peninsula or Gulf Coast (Florida Panhandle) clones of cogongrass. We collected/propagated cogongrass from two different geographic locations in Florida and shipped healthy rhizomes under permit to Bogor Agricultural University, West Java, Indonesia, for clonal testing. Performance of O. javanica on each cogongrass clone (no. of galls and adults produced, development time to adult stage) will be compared.
Objectives: To initially evaluate the gall midge O. javanica as a possible candidate for biological control of cogongrass in the southern region, we expect to accomplish the following objectives: (1) Develop and optimize a protocol for laboratory rearing O. javanica in collaboration with Bogor Agricultural University, West Java, Indonesia (See Appendix II); (2) Conduct pre-release field and laboratory assessments of the impact of O. javanica on cogongrass at Bogor Agricultural University; (3) Assess the performance in Indonesia of O. javanica on the clonal lineages of cogongrass established in the southeastern USA. |
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