A preliminary study on arthropods as potential biological control agents for management of alien ornamental plants in Turkey

Abstract

Alien ornamental plants have the potential to become invasive and biological control is considered a promising method for managing them. Global literature was searched to reveal the potential biological control agents for 56 ornamental plants which have invasion potential in Turkey. Out of the biological agents, we compiled the list of species already in Turkey which could be utilised in managing invasive species. Moreover, succesfull biological control agents for these plants from other parts of the world have also been listed. As a result, 128 species of arthropods were found as natural enemies and 27 of them were established in the released areas in the world. In Turkey, out of these 128 species, 58 were noted as present in Turkey, however, their impacts on plants have not been studied in detail. Potential biological agents for controlling invasive plants in Turkey are: Carpomyia vesuviana (Costa) for Ziziphus mauritiana Lam., Rhizaspidiotus donacis (Leonardi) for Arundo donax L., Unaspis euonymi (Comstock) for Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz., Diaspis echinocacti (Bouché) for Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller, Eulecanium ciliatum (Douglas), Lepidosaphes ulmi (Linnaeus), Melanaspis inopinata (Leonardi) and Phenacoccus aceris (Signoret) for Acer negundo L. There is a possibility to use these biological agents for controlling the alien ornamental plants in Turkey, although there is a need for conducting further Pest Risk Assesment to assess the invasiveness of alien plants in Turkey, and studies are also required for safe release of beneficial insects.