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BLACK SAGE Cordia macrostachya (Jacquin)
Romer & Schultes-- Boraginaceae (Contacts) ------ CLICK on Photo to enlarge &
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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 were 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. |