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BLACK SAGE, Cordia macrostachya (Jacquin) Romer & Schultes-- Boraginaceae

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A successful project was begun near the end of World War II on black sage, Cordia macrostachya (Jacquin) Roemer & Schultes, an introduced plant pest in sugarcane fields on the island of Mauritius. Preliminary surveys of the insect fauna of black sage and related plant species was conducted in the West Indies during 1944-46. Following detailed life history studies and host specificity tests, the leaf beetle, Metrogaleruca obscura DeGeer was introduced to Mauritius from Trinidad in 1947 (Simmonds 1950). The beetle populations multiplied rapidly and by 1950 had spread over the entire island, causing heavy defoliation which killed or weakened plants so that they were replaced by competing plant species. A seed feeding wasp Eurytoma attiva Burks also was introduced in 1959-50 (Williams 1960). Defoliation and seed destruction by these introduced insects have continued to prevent the regeneration of black sage (Simmonds 1967, Goeden 1978, Julien 1982, Goeden & Andrés 1999) (also see Wiehe 1946, 1960; Maulik 1947, Williams 1950, 1951, 1954; Simmonds 1948, 1949a,b; 1950, 1958; Moutia 1947, 1948; Callan 1948, Anonymous 1960).

REFERENCES [ Additional references may be found at: MELVYL Library ]

Anonymous. 1960. Mauritius. Review of agricultural entomology. In: 7th Commonwealth Ent. Conf. Rept., July 6-15, 1960, London. p. 310-12.

Callan, E. M. 1948. Effect of defoliation on reproduction of Cordia macrostachya. Bull. Ent. Res. 29: 213-15.

Goeden, R. D. 1978. Part II: Biological control of weeds, p. 357-545. In: C. P. Clausen (ed.), Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds. U. S. Dept. Agric. Handb. No. 480.

Goeden, R. D. & L. A. Andrés. 1999. Biological control of weeds in terrestrial and aquatic environments. In: Bellows, T. S. & T. W. Fisher (eds.), Handbook of Biological Control: Principles and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, New York. 1046 p

Julien, M. H. (ed.). 1982. Biological control of weeds: a world catalogue of agents and their target weeds, 1st ed. Commonw. Agric. Bur., Slough, U.K. 108 p.

Maulik, S. 1947. Introduction of a beetle from Trinidad into Mauritius to control l'herbe conde (Cordia macrostachya) Nature (London) 160: 194-95.

Moutia, L. A. 1947. En marge de la lutte contre Loherbe Conde: Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Roem. and Schult.: la fourmi rouge Solenopsis geminata F. et le charancon de l'eucalyptus: Gonipterus scutellatus Gyll. Rev. AGric. Maurice 26: 125-37.

Moutia, L. A. 1948. Division of Entomology, Mauritius Dept. Agric. Rept. 1947: 46-8.

Simmonds, F. J. 1950. Insects attacking Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Roem. & Schult. in the West Indies. II. Schematiza cordiae Barber (Coleoptera: Galerucidae). Canad. Ent. 81: 275-82.

Simmonds, F. J. 1948. Some difficulties in determining by means of field samples the true value of parasitic control. Bull. Ent. Res. 39: 435-40.

Simmonds, F. J. 1949a. Insects attacking Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Roemer & Schult. in the West Indies. I. Physonota alutacea Boh. (Coleoptera, Cassididae). Canad. Ent. 81: 185-99.

Simmonds, F. J. 1949b. Initial success of attempts at biological control of the weed Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) R. & S. in Mauritius. Trop. Agric. (Trinidad) 26: 135-36.

Simmonds, F. J. 1950. Insects attacking Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Roem. and Schult. in the West Indies. II. Schematiza cordiae Barber (Coleoptera: Galerucidae). Canad. Ent. 81: 275-82.

Simmonds, F. J. 1958. The control of Cordia macrostachya (Boraginaceae) in Mauritius. 10th Intern. Cong. Ent. Proc. (1956) 4: 553-55.

Simmonds, F. J. 1967. Biological control of pests of veterinary importance. Vet. Bull. 37: 71-85.

Wiehe, P. O. 1946. The control of Cordia macrostachya (Jacq.) Reem. and Schult. (Herbe Conde). In: Report on a visit to Trinidad, Louisiana and other countries. Govt. Ptg. Off., Mauritius. p. 11-43.

Wiehe, P. O. 1960. Notes on the present ecological status of Cordia macrostachya in Mauritius. Bull. Ent. Res. 51: 132-33.

Williams, J. R. 1950. The introduction of Physonota alutacea Boheman (Col., Cassid.) into Mauritius. Bull. Ent. Res. 40: 479-80.

Williams, J. R. 1951. The control of the black sage in Mauritius by Schematiza cordiae Barb. (Col., Galerucid.). Bull. Ent. Res. 42: 455-63.

Williams, J. R. 1954. Mauritius review of agricultural entomology during the period 1948-1954. 6th Commonwealth Ent. Conf. Rept. p. 281-84.

Williams, J. R. 1960. The control of black sage (Cordia macrostachya) in Mauritius: the introduction, biology and bionomics of a species of Eurytoma (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea). Bull. Ent. Res. 51: 123-32.