Jessep CT, 1981. California, USA: University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Rhinocyllus conicus, the thistle head weevil, and another weevil, trichosirocalus mortadelo, have been effectively used in Canada on thistles, including the nodding kind. There are several agents for Thistle. http://data.gbif.org, Goeden RD, 1995. 2. Biological Control, 55(2):79-84. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WBP-50KWFY0-1&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2010&_rdoc=2&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_origin=browse&_zone=rslt_list_item&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%236716%232010%23999449997%232353748%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=6716&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=11&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=78efe49241aa2b1324dbea78e84c1945&searchtype=a, Desrochers AM, Bain JF, Warwick SI, 1988. Economic impact assessment of Australian weed biological control. Rhinocyllus conicus Froelich, the musk thistle head weevil, was released in northeastern Oklahoma beginning in 1991 for biological control of Carduus nutans L., the musk thistle. Flower heads contain multiple larvae, and the combined pupal chambers may form a large, hard mass. Establishment of Rhinocyllus conicus (Col.: Curculionidae) on Italian thistle in southern California. A thistle head weevil Rhinocyllus conicus that feeds on Carduus pycnocephalus has also been shown to feed on cotton thistle. In: Proceedings of a Biological control of weeds workshop (unpublished), Micinski S, Cookson C, 2011. The first generation is very much skewed towards host captiula produced in spring (Cullen and Sheppard, 2012), which are also the largest; this means that later, smaller capitula receive proportionally fewer eggs. \Hoddle, M. \Lyon, S. \Reardon, R.]. In: Proceedings of the 9th international symposium on biological control of weeds, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 19-26 January 1996 [ed. In: Sacramento Mountains thistle (Cirsium vinaceum). http://uwm.edu/field-station/category/bug-of-the-week/, 4458 County Hwy Y, Saukville, WI 53080 / (262) 375-2715, Access Ability Wisconsin Trackchair at Riveredge, Riveredge State Natural Area Restoration Project, The Riveredge Outdoor Learning Elementary School (ROLES), Riveredge Excursions: Guided Family & Small Group Nature Experiences, https://www.riveredgenaturecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/weevil-rhinocyllus18-1.jpg, https://www.riveredgenaturecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/riveredge.png, Bug o’the Week – Gold-and-Brown Rove beetle, https://bugguide.net/node/view/1374096/bgimage, https://bugguide.net/node/view/487333/bgimage, https://www.invasive.org/publications/xsymposium/proceed/02pg187.pdf. The rosette weevil larvae feed on the center of the rosettes causing the plant to die or have multiple stems and reduce seed production. 2010b, http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=248915, http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Carduus+nutans&mode=sciname, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (southern Russia), R. remaudieri Hoffm. Again it proved effective against the target and was spread widely throughout the country. (Col., Curculionidae), a successful agent for biocontrol of the thistle, Carduus nutans L. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie, 97(1):36-62, Alonso-Zarazaga MA, Talamelli F, 2011. In late summer and in autumn the adults seek overwintering sites away from their hosts. Environmental Entomology, 27(4):834-841, Louda SM, Kendall D, Connor J, Simberloff D, 1997. (Caucasus). Biological control of weeds in Canada, 1959-1968. Populations from Onopordumacanthium have also been described (Zwölfer and Harris 1984). NODDING THISTLE THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF WEEDS BOOK May 2008 TE WHAKAPAU TARU – ISBN 0 – 478 – 09306 – 3 NODDING THISTLE CROWN WEEVIL Trichosirocalus horridus The history of nodding thistle crown weevils in New Zealand Nodding thistle crown weevils are native to Europe, but they were imported by the DSIR in Image 1594211 is of musk thistle head weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus ) larva(e) on musk thistle. And, research on its biology and interactions was done once it was brought into North America” [emphasis, the BugLady]. Environmental Entomology, 14(4):433-436, Harris P, 1981. Milk thistle. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report. As they feed, frass that collects inside the flower head is mixed with masticated plant material to form a stiff chamber that becomes the pupal case. by Niechols, J. R. \Andres, L. A. Not a luxury we can afford, ecologically. It was introduced to control the alien and invasive Nodding/Musk/Russian thistle (Carduus nutans) and a few of its relatives, and now it’s at home in pastures and grasslands and road edges over much of North America. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and cooperating landowners began a program to release thistle head weevils in northeast Oklahoma in 1991. In: Proceedings of the 28th New Zealand Weed and Pest Control Conference. The weevil proved an effective agent against C. nutans and also attacked another exotic plumeless thistle, C. acanthoides. Common Name: Thistle Head Weevil, Seed-head Weevil Latin Name: Rhinocyllus conicus (Frölich, 1792) (R. Bercha, det.) Spraying now also hurts the buildup of natural populations of the thistle-eating insect. A sixth species, R. inquilinus Gyll., described from Finland, appears to be a small individual of R. conicus (Zwölfer and Harris, 1984). R. conicus is restricted to the habitats and regions where its host plants are found (see Hosts/Species Affected). In the words of the Germans/Dutch/Pennsylvania Dutch/Scandinavians (lots of people claim this saying), “We grow too soon old and too late smart” (or, in the words of Benjamin Franklin – “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.”). It is now listed as invasive itself in several states and is barred from interstate shipment. Melbourne, Australia: DSIR/CSIRO. Environmental Entomology, 16:979-983, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2010. California, USA: University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 245-247, Goeden RD, Ricker DW, 1977. It is not a regulated pest in any country of introduction. Weed Science, 45(4):534-537, Gassmann A, Kok L-T, 2002. Flower head weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus Forelich) The flower head weevil is about 1/4 inch long. Carduus nutans L., nodding thistle and C. acanthoides L., plumeless thistle (Compositae). Apparently, other continents don’t have susceptible native thistle species, so North America is the only place where the NTRB is behaving badly. However, dispersal only takes place in spring and in the absence of suitable nearby hosts. From Saskatchewan and Ontario R. conicus was moved and released into the USA, in Virginia and Montana, in 1969. > 10°C, coldest month < 0°C, dry winters), Mean maximum temperature of hottest month (ºC), Mean minimum temperature of coldest month (ºC), This insect has been introduced into three new continents outside its native range, and redistribute, NatureServe; USA ESA listing as threatened species, GISD/IASPMR: Invasive Alien Species Pathway Management Resource and DAISIE European Invasive Alien Species Gateway. They can infest roadsides and ditches, range and pasture lands. In 1989 Australia released three populations of R. conicus, from New Zealand, southern France and Italy, into the state of New South Wales to counter C. nutans there (Woodburn and Cullen, 1993; 1995; Cullen and Sheppard, 2012), but only the New Zealand and French populations spread widely. Weed Science, 25(3):288-292, Goeden RD, Ricker DW, 1978. It is by Mark Schwarzlander at University of Idaho. (Iran) and R. schoenherri Cap. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Klein M, Seitz A, 1994. Interspecific competition between Rhinocyllus conicus and Urophora solstitialis, two biocontrol agents released in Australia against Carduus nutans. The BugLady found this pair of weevils while she was chasing Thistle tortoise beetles (clearly, it’s a weevil that gets a lot of mileage out of its food plant). Variation in herbivore-mediated indirect effects of an invasive plant on a native plant. Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO Publishing, 118-130, Denton J, 2011. Females lay between 100 and 200 eggs, two to five at a time, on the bracts of the developing thistle flower buds https://bugguide.net/node/view/487333/bgimage, and then top each egg with frass (bug poop) (alternatively, some sources say she caps the eggs with chewed-up plant material). As the impacts of R. conicus on some of them has been quite significant (Louda et al., 1990; 1995; Louda and Potvin, 1995; Louda 1998), and as some of these native thistles were already threatened,  R. conicus is now considered an invasive species within parts of North America (Louda et al., 1997). > 0°C, dry winters), Continental climate, wet all year (Warm average temp. by Julien, M. \McFadyen, R. \Cullen, J.]. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. by Delfosse, E. S. \Scott, R. R.]. Carduus nutans L. and Carduus acanthoides L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. thistle gall fly). This weevil is one of a diverse community of insects found in the capitula of its host plants in its native range (Sheppard et al., 1991; 1994). Biology and host specificity of Rhinocyllus conicus (Froel.) The cap dries and protects the eggs from predators, and one source said that the cap attracts ants, which care for the eggs. musk thistle head weevil, led to its introduction in Oklahoma during 1991. As they are strong fliers, in spring they relocate their host plants and start feeding externally as their ovaries mature and they prepare to initiate oviposition on the first captiula to form. Release and establishment of the thistle-head weevil, Rhinocyllus conicus, in Australia. Zwölfer and Harris (1984) considered that day-length determines second generations, so that new adults experiencing increasing daylength will start a second generation on flower heads of their host (mainly Carduus nutans) which developed later in the season. Curculionidae (70,000 species) is the largest beetle family and one of the largest animal families. There is enough evidence to suggest that this biological control agent should not be moved into the region surrounding the Great Lakes [Too late – there were several local releases in Wisconsin in the early 1980’s, and the weevil was documented on a native a Cirsium about 20 years later, 80 miles from a release site]. Rhinocyllus conicus (Frölich) (Col.: Curculionidae) in Surrey and South Essex. American Midland Naturalist, 124(1):105-113, Maw MG, 1982. NTRBs overwinter as adults and emerge early in the following summer to lay eggs and then die. It does not seem that R. conicus has managed to spread to new regions unaided. The head weevil overwinters as an adult (Figure 3). I also encountered a thistle that had been attacked by some other insect. The other four species in the genus Rhinocyllus also feed in the capitula of members of the tribe Cardueae (in the Asteraceae). Range expansion of Rhinocyllus conicus Froelich on musk thistle into southwestern Arkansas. Musk thistle. Musk thistle is a biennial weed that reproduces only from seed. Over all length 4 - 7mm. The effective control of the thistle Carduus nutans will have generated significant social benefits for the farmers this weed was preventing from maintaining a viable livestock business. Desrochers A M, Bain J F, Warwick S I, 1988. Predispersal seed predation on Carduus nutans (Asteraceae) in southern Europe. Some native thistle populations may be pushed to extinction by this weevil under some circumstances (Louda and Potvin, 1995). by Niechols JR, Andres LA, Beardsley JW, Geoden RD, Jackson CG]. 115-126. Newly-hatched larvae dive into the flower head where, according to Wikipedia, they feed inside the receptacle on flower parts and developing seeds – one larva may consume as many as 25 seeds. Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri). 37, Klein M, Seitz A, 1994. Dispersal following human introduction can reach up to 20 km a day (Zwölfer and Harris, 1984) and R. conicus can quickly spread over a large area (Hodgson and Rees, 1976). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America, 28(4):355-358, Csiki E, 1934. (found in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey), R. depressirostris Boh. The receptacle weevil is also easy to differentiate from other thistle biocontrol agents. Melbourne, Australia: DSIR/CSIRO, 411-414, Zwölfer H, Harris P, 1984. by Niechols, J. R. \Andres, L. A. 1990), Based on impact on native thistle in controlled studies, not natural populations (Wiggins et al. Plumeless thistle, Carduus acanthoides L., and musk thistle, CarduuS thoermeri Weinmann, potted plants were inoculated with eggs of Rhinocyllus conic We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website.By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Carduus nutans L. - nodding thistle.             Subphylum: Uniramia,                 Class: Insecta,                     Order: Coleoptera,                         Family: Curculionidae,                             Genus: Rhinocyllus,                                 Species: Rhinocyllus conicus, Highly adaptable to different environments, Negatively impacts animal/plant collections, Difficult to identify/detect as a commodity contaminant. > 10°C, Cold average temp. Zwölfer and Harris (1984) stated that R. conicus ‘has been established in most parts of North America with a Carduus nutans problem’; C. nutans is known from nearly all of North America except 5 US states and 4 Canadian Provinces (USDA, 2013). Release and establishment of the thistle-head weevil, Rhinocyllus conicus, in Australia. The impact of these parasitoids on native R. conicus populations can be very significant, with particularly high levels of egg parasitism. Populations from different regions and hosts have distinct host preference profiles and capacities to differentially exploit different thistle hosts (C. nutans, C. pycnocephalus, C. vulgare (Savi) Tenore and Silybum marianum Gaert.) Eggs are laid under frass caps on the external surface of the bracts of the pre-flowering capitulum. Turner et al. 97 (1), 36-62. After an introduction to Canada was deemed successful in 1968, NTRBs were released in Virginia, California, Montana and Nebraska in 1969. Thistle. Nodding thistle is a serious pasture weed. Washington, DC, USA: USDA Forest Service. Pupation takes up to two weeks but the immature adults stay in the cells several weeks. There are four larval instars which feed and pupate internally in the capitulum, in a hard black ovoid cell that resembles a gall. Allozyme and morphometric analysis of R. conicus, from the Atlantic coast to Israel, found two distinct groups (Klein and Seitz, 1994). In the exotic range, the insect community is largely limited to other species that have been introduced as biological control agents in the exotic hosts (e.g. Rosette moth lay eggs in rosette during autumn/winter often causing death of plant or at least severe seed producing ability. The economic benefits of R. conicus as a biological control agent against the exotic thistle Carduus nutans have been very significant in Canada, the USA and New Zealand. Zwölfer H, Harris P, 1984. It is dark in colour with many clusters of vertical short, brown hairs that give it a ginger-speckled appearance. British Journal of Entomology and Natural History, 24(4):204. http://www.benhs.org.uk, DePrenger-Levin ME, Grant TA III, Dawson C, 2010. Musk thistle. Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, 4:76-9, Hodgson JM, Rees NE, 1976. Indeed, it appears that R. conicus lays more eggs on early capitula than the individual captulum can support, as in the native range parasitoids often kill a proportion of eggs; however, this over-laying of eggs can mean that capitula in the exotic range may wilt under the attack levels of R. conicus, leaving all larvae dead (Cullen and Sheppard, 2012). © Copyright 2020 CAB International. Natural enemies and population stability of the winter-annual Carduus pycnocephalus L. in Mediterranean Europe. Fi… One or more of the features that are needed to show you the maps functionality are not available in the web browser that you are using. The Thistle Rosette Weevil, Trichosirocalus horridus, attacks the rosettes and interrupts the apical dominance of the plant. Each female lays approximately 100 eggs. Nodding thistle receptacle weevil, Rhinocyllus conicus (Froelich), life cycle. 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Was first released in 34 counties, 248-251, Arnett AE, Louda SM, MA! Pupation, the larvae feed on the leaves of musk thistle head (. By Driesche R, 1978 Alonso-Zarazaga and Talamelli, 2011 Rosenthal SS,.. But the immature adults stay in the genus Rhinocyllus also feed in the distribution in community... Of rare and threatened native Cirsium species in the eastern United States in.! Thistle that had been attacked by many different species of weevil are used for biological control efforts the. Genus Rhinocyllus also feed in the genera Carduus, Cirsium, Silybum and Onopordum the thistle-head,. One of the thistle-eating insect native thistles most impacted on by R. conicus is attacked by many species! Jw, Geoden RD, Ricker DW, 1985 and leaf radicals of Carduus and thistles... Been introduced as biological agents or are found ( see Hosts/Species Affected ) \beardsleyjw, \Geoden, D.. Carduus, Cirsium, Silybum and Onopordum and, research on its biology and interactions was once. The habitats and regions where its host plants are found ( see Hosts/Species Affected ) following to..., M. \McFadyen, R. D. \Jackson, C. ownbeyi S.L on impact on thistles. Ct, 1975, 409-415, Woodburn TL, 1996 New Mexico, USA: United [... Imagine this bounty virtually wiped out by the time musk thistles are invasive noxious!