Author
Pamela Krug
Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas
Hurlingham, Argentina
Presenting Author Nicolás A Salinas
Coauthors
Nicolás A Salinas, Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas, Hurlingham, Argentina
Fernando Mc Kay, Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas, Hurlingham, Argentina
Evangelina Natale, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina
Alejandro J Sosa, Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas, Hurlingham, Argentina
Abstract
In Argentina, invasive Tamarix (Tamaricaceae) species thrive in wetlands of arid and semi-arid regions where they promote soil salinisation and displace native vegetation. To identify potential biological control agents already established in the country, arthropod communities were surveyed across six provinces. We recorded 1,537 individuals (73 species); however, phytophagous taxa were rare and mostly generalists, supporting the Enemy Release Hypothesis. Only two non-native herbivores specific to Tamarix were detected: the leaf hopper Opsius stactogalus and the eriophyid Phyllocoptes bilobospinosus. The abundance and impact of O. stactogalus varied regionally, potentially regulated by the parasitoids Palaeoneura saga and Dryinidae spp., both constituting new records for the country. The occurrence of P. bilobospinosus, associated only with T. ramosissima, also constituted a new record in Argentina. The lack of impact of existing specialised phytophagous arthropods, together with the absence of native Tamaricaceae in the Americas, supports the implementation of a classical biological control programme in Argentina through the importation of host-specific natural enemies from the native distribution area of Tamarix spp.
Keywords
Biocontrol
Entomofauna
Tamarix
Highlights
Entomofauna of Tamarix spp. shows few phytophagous species, mostly generalists.
Populations of Opsius stactogalus vary regionally in traits and associated parasitoids.
New records of insect species associated with Tamarix spp. are reported.