It is used as an agent of biological pest control against noxious knapweeds, particularly spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa), squarrose knapweed (Centaurea virgata ssp. (wikipedia.org)
Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a suitable candidate for the biological control of diffuse and spotted knapweed in North America. (cornell.edu)
Col., Curculionidae), an agent introduced for the biological control of diffuse and spotted knapweed in North America. (cornell.edu)
1996. Establishment of Larinus minutus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for biological control of diffuse and spotted knapweeds in the western United States. (cornell.edu)
Biological control agents (a twig mining moth, a seed weevil, and a shoot tip moth) are available for control of Scotch broom, but have not proved effective in Idaho. (id.us)
Species2
Bangasternus fausti is a species of true weevil known as the broad-nosed seed head weevil. (wikipedia.org)
Spotted and diffuse knapweed are weed species that can be found throughout the northern tier of states and as far south as Nebraska and Virginia. (cornell.edu)
Attacks1
L. minutus attacks both spotted and diffuse knapweed with a slight preference for diffuse knapweed. (cornell.edu)
Pupates1
The seeds are consumed and when development of the larvae is complete the larva pupates and emerges for the seedhead as a new adult. (cornell.edu)
Europe2
This weevil is native to southern Europe and the Middle East. (wikipedia.org)
Larinus minutus (seedhead weevil), a native weevil of Europe, was cleared and first released in the United States in 1991. (cornell.edu)
Native1
It is host-specific to invasive knapweeds and has not been known to attack any native plants. (wikipedia.org)
Control1
The release of L. minutus is part of a program to introduce a complex of spotted and diffuse knapweed enemies to help control these weeds. (cornell.edu)
Biocontrol1
It was first released as a knapweed biocontrol in the 1980s in Oregon, and it is currently established in the Pacific Northwest. (wikipedia.org)
Larvae2
We hypothesised that, for weed biological control, using species that feed as both adults and larvae would be advantageous. (edu.au)
Although one of the two different feeding modes was redundant at each site, the ability of adults and larvae to reduce plant performance in different areas makes the species effective in a wider range of environments. (edu.au)
Reduce1
C. achates can kill knapweed plants in a single year, but populations are often not dense enough to reduce entire stands of knapweed. (utahweedsupervisors.com)