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Control of Toadflax by Brachypterolus pulicarius (L.)(Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Gymnaetron antirrhini (Payk.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

P. Harris
P. Harris
Affiliation:
Entomology Research Institute for Biological Control, Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario
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Extract

The principal insects that attack toadflax (Linaria vulgaris Mill.) in Canada are Brachypterolus pulicarius (L.), a flower-eating nitidulid, and Gymnaetron antirrhini (Payk.), a seed-eating weevil. B. pulicarius was found in 1953 in all provinces of Canada but G. antirrhini was apparently absent from Saskatchewan and Alberta, the two provinces where the spread of toadflax was causing alarm. Thus the seriousness of the toadflax seemed to be related to the absence of G. antirrhini. In an artempt to correct this situation Smith (1959) collected 4,000 adult G. antirrhini and released them in mid-July, 1957, at Marsden, Saskatchewan, and Codesa, Alberta. However, it now appears that the rapid spread of toadflax occurred in the absence of B. pulicarius and that this beetle is more valuable than first thought. This paper discusses the role of B. pulicarius and the results of introducing G. antirrhini.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 93 , Issue 11 , November 1961 , pp. 977 - 981
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1961

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References

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