Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Weed invasions countered by biological control: Salvinia molesta and Eichhornia crassipes in Sri Lanka

1992; Elsevier BV; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0304-3770(92)90001-y

1879-1522

P. M. Room, I.V.S. Fernando,

Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Salvinia (Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart. Solms.) entered Sri Lanka in 1939 and 1904, respectively, and spread rapidly to cause major environmental problems. Herbicides and physical removal were too costly to provide lasting solutions. The beetle Cytobagous salviniae Calder & Sands was introduced as a biological control agent for salvinia in 1986. It was distributed amongst more than 130 locations during the late 1980s and had destroyed about 80% of salvinia infestations nationwide by late 1990. Another beetle, Neochetina eichhorniae Warner, was introduced in 1988 to attack water hyacinth, and stop it from occupying water surfaces which had been cleared of salvinia. This beetle is breeding well but its effectiveness against water hyacinth is unlikely to be evident before 1994.