Project Number: 6629-22000-009-14
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 01, 2004
End Date: Aug 30, 2008

Objective:
Determine the biologies and host-specificity of candidate biological control agents for invasive insect and weed pests. Seek for release concurrence into Florida for control of the pests. Develop mass-rearing methods to facilitate colonization. Determine post-release understanding of colonization, spread and impact of the biological control agents on target pests and on species potential non-target. Evaluate the state of infested habitats during and after control.

Approach:
Host-specificity tests and other prerelease biological studies will be conducted in quarantine laboratories at Gainesville or Ft. Lauderdale. Host-specificity testing will assess development of candidate agents on arrays of representative taxa to delineate host-specificity levels. Biological studies will be conducted to define development times, mating behavior, methods of propagation and other biological aspects in quarantine laboratories. Various methods of rearing will be employed to establish large numbers of biological control agents for release. Post-release colonization and dispersal will be determined through mark and recapture methods and surveys. Impact will be determined by demographic studies of both the biological control agents and the target pests in a range of different habitats. In the case of weed projects, re-vegetation of infested or previously infested areas will be evaluated to determine outcomes of control. Potential non-target hosts of the biological control agents will be monitored in a range of habitats.