Biocontrol introduction

Target pest: Jacobaea vulgaris (Asterales: Asteraceae) = Senecio jacobaea, ragwort

Agent introduced: Longitarsus sp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) = L. flavicornis (Stephens)

Imported:

1985

Import source:

Australia, France

Import notes:

Landcare Research (2007a) - specimens of Longitarsus sp. from Australia, dated 1985, and France, dated 1985, are present in the Biological Control Voucher Collection of the New Zealand Arthropod Collection [indicating importations from those sources in those years].

General comments:

Taxonomic note (29 June 2024) - at the time that Longitarsus sp. was imported into New Zealand, ragwort, the target weed, was classified as Senecio jacobaea. However, molecular studies of the tribe Senecioneae by Pelser et al. (2006) showed that species of Senecio sect. Jacobaea (Mill.) Dumort. formed a well-supported clade that is only distantly related to other species usually attributed to Senecio, and proposed transferring the 27 species of sect. Jacobaea they analysed to the genus Jacobaea Mill. This included Senecio jacobaea, reclassified as Jacobaea vulgaris.

References

Landcare Research (2007a). New Zealand Arthropod Collection (NZAC) Biological Control Voucher Collection. Landcare Research website [Updated 2020] https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/tools-and-resources/collections/new-zealand-arthropod-collection-nzac/databases-and-holdings/new-t2-landing-page/

Pelser PB, Veldkamp J-F, Van der Meijden R (2006). New combinations in Jacobaea Mill. (Asteraceae – Senecioneae). Compositae Newsletter 44: 1-11 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247158930_New_combinations_in_Jacobaea_Mill_Asteraceae-Senecioneae