Biocontrol introduction
Target pest: Lonicera japonica (Dipsacales: Caprifoliaceae) = Nintooa japonica, Japanese honeysuckle
Agent introduced: Oberea shirahatai (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), honeysuckle stem-borer
Imported:
2015
Import source:
Japan
Released:
2018
Release details:
Landcare Research (2015i) - hope to make first field release before the end of 2015.
Landcare Research (2016i) - plan to make the first field release before the end of 2016.
Landcare Research (2017g) - difficult to rear in captivity, removed from containment and first proper field releases planned before the end of 2017.
Landcare Research (2018d) - as mass-rearing of this agent is very time-consuming and expensive (though a method for rearing on artificial diet is being trialled and showing promise), the plan is to rear enough beetles to establish them at two field sites, from which they can be harvested for redistribution. The first release (of larvae, into holes drilled into stems) was made at a Waikato site in autumn 2018. A further release is planned for the summer 2018/19.
Landcare Research (2019j) - one release made in the year Sep 2018 - Aug 2019.
Landcare Research (2023g) - rearing is ongoing in preparation for more field releases.
Establishment:
Landcare Research (2020g) - some likely damage seen at one site.
Landcare Research (2023g) - establishment has been confirmed at one site in Canterbury.
Impacts on non-targets:
Hill (2015a) - New Zealand has no native plants in the same Family (Caprifoliaceae) or even same Order (Dipsacales) as Japanese honeysuckle, so none will be at risk. Laboratory tests indicate plants outside the Subfamily Caprifoliadeae are not attractive to or will not sustain larvae of O. shirahatai. Adults fed on the foliage of a range of plants within the subfamilies Caprifoliadeae and Diervilloideae but only oviposited on plants in the genera Lonicera and Leycesteria in the subfamily Caprifoliodeae, and development to adult was confined to L. japonica. Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa), an exotic weed, may be attacked but is unlikely to support breeding populations, and other ornamental species of Lonicera in New Zealand would not be attacked or suffer minor 'spillover' feeding at worst.
EPA Applications:
EPA (2015a) - 17 Feb 2015: application by Hawke's Bay Regional Council to introduce the stem-boring beetle Oberea shirahatai Ohbayashi (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) as part of a biological control programme against the weed Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). EPA Application # 202396, approved without controls 30 Jun 2015.
References
EPA (2015a). EPA application APP202396: to introduce the honeysuckle stem-boring beetle, Oberea shirahatai Ohbayashi (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), as part of a biological control programme against the weed Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). Environmental Protection Authority website https://www.epa.govt.nz/database-search/hsno-application-register/view/APP202396
Hill R. (2015a). Application [APP202396] to obtain approval to release new organisms [Oberea shirahatai]. Environmental Protection Authority website https://www.epa.govt.nz/assets/FileAPI/hsno-ar/APP202396/8be2550cb3/APP202396-APP202396-application.pdf
Landcare Research (2015i). Who's who in biological control of weeds? Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 73: 10-11 http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/newsletters/biological-control-of-weeds/issue-73
Landcare Research (2016i). Who's who in biological control of weeds? Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 77: 10-11 http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/newsletters/biological-control-of-weeds/issue-77
Landcare Research (2017g). Who's who in biological control of weeds? Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 81: 10-11 https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/newsletters/biological-control-of-weeds/issue-81
Landcare Research (2018d). Japanese butterfly takes flight. Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 84, May 2018 https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/newsletters/biological-control-of-weeds/issue-84/japanese-butterfly-takes-flight
Landcare Research (2019j). Biocontrol agents released in 2018/19. Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 89, August 2019 https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/newsletters/biological-control-of-weeds/weed-biocontrol-issue-89/biocontrol-agents-released-in-201819
Landcare Research (2020g). Who's who in biological control of weeds? Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 93, Aug 2020. https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/weed-biocontrol/weed-biocontrol-articles/status-of-agents/
Landcare Research (2023g). Who's who in the biological control of weeds. Weed Biocontrol: What's New? 105, August 2023 https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/weed-biocontrol/weed-biocontrol-articles/whos-who/
Paynter QE, Konuma A, Dodd SL, Hill RL, Field L, Gourlay AH and Winks CJ. (2017). Prospects for biological control of Lonicera japonica (Caprifoliaceae) in New Zealand. Biological Control 105: 56-65
