Establishment of arytainilla spartiophila förster (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a new biological control agent for broom, cytisus scoparius, in New Zealand

Abstract

Results of tests conducted with the psyllid Arytainilla spartiophila before it was introduced into New Zealand for biological control of broom, Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link, indicate that it is highly host specific, and unlikely to feed and develop on alternative host plants. Psyllids were reared under containment conditions and in the laboratory between 1991 and 1994 and first released in the field in New Zealand in 1993. From all releases made under a user-funded technology transfer programme, psyllids have established at 28% of sites, have been recovered from a further 7%, have failed at 3% of sites, and their fate at the remaining 62% of sites is unknown. From these releases psyllids are known to have established at 33 sites between Tapanui in Southland and Rotorua in the central North Island. The recorded rate of spread has generally been slow, but from one 1999 release psyllids spread 300-500 m from the original release point in 2 years. © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.