Prediction of safety and effectiveness of a candidate biocontrol agent : quarantine evaluation of the root-feeding, Mexican flea beetle, Longitarsus bethae, for potential release against the noxious weed, Lantana camara, in Africa
A root-feeding, Mexican flea beetle, Longitarsus bethae Savini & Escalona 2005 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Alticinae), was evaluated in quarantine as a candidate biological control agent for the noxious weed, Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae). The premise was that L. bethae would only be released if it could be ascertained that it was: (i) safe for non-target plants; (ii) likely to inflict significant damage on the target weed; and (ii) capable of surviving under the various (abiotic and biotic) environmental conditions in its new range.
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