Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle

Distribution

An Australian species first recorded in Middle East and Mediterranean region in 2000, has since spread down through Africa, reaching South Africa in 2007. Two genetically distinct lineages of this wasp have been detected outside its native range: Leptocybe Lineage A and Leptocybe Lineage B (Dittrich-Schröder et al., 2018; Gevers et al., 2020).

Biology

Devastates Euclayptus plantations by forming galls on leaves, deforming foliage and stunting growth.

Control

No effective measures established. Insecticides have some effect in preventing infestations on nursery saplings. There is potential for implementation of biocontrol through introduction of suitable parasitoid agents, and/or selection of resistant tree genotypes. The parasitoid Selitrichodes neseri Kelly & La Salle, 2012 has been released in South Africa as a biological control agent against Leptocybe invasa (Kelly et al. 2012; Gevers etal., 2020). Several Megastigmus species (Megastigmatidae) are parasitoids (Megastigmus zebrinus Grissell, 2006), or potential parasitoids (Megastigmus pretorianensis Doǧanlar, 2011) (Doǧanlar, 2015; Gevers et al., 2020); Quadrastichus mendeli Kim & La Salle (Tetrastichinae) is a further parasitoid released as a biological control agent in Israel in 2003 (Kim et al., 2008; Mendel et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2014) and recorded in South Africa in 2017 as an apparent unintentional introduction (Bush et al., 2017; Gevers et al., 2020). Selitrichodes neseri, Quadrastichus mendeli and Megastigmus zebrinus  were confirmed to parasitize Leptocybe invasa Lineage A, and S. neseri was confirmed to parasitize Leptocybe invasa Lineage B; additionally these parasitoids have been established to parasitize each other (Gevers et al., 2020).

Links

FABI web site: http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za

References

Bush, S.J., Slippers, B., Neser, S., Harney, M., Dittrich-Schröder, G., Hurley, B.P., 2016.
Six recently recorded Australian insects associated with eucalyptus in South Africa. African Entomology 24, 539–544.
Bush, S.J., Dittrich-Schröder, G., Neser, S., Gevers, C., Baffoe, K.O., Slippers, B., Hurley,
B.P., 2017. First record of Quadrastichus mendeli, a parasitoid of Leptocybe invasa, South Africa. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 80: 275-277.

https://doi.org/10.2989/20702620.2017.1318347
Costa, V.A., Berti Filho, E., Wilcken, C.F., Stape, J.L., La Salle, J. & Teixeira, L. de D. 2008. Eucalyptus gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Brazil: New forest pest reaches the New World. Revista de Agricultura (Piracicaba), 83: 136-139.

CPBR, 2006. EUCLID eucalypts of Australia. CSIRO Publishing.

Csóka, G.N., Stone, G. & Melika, G. 2017. Non-native gall-inducing insects on forest trees: a global review. Biological Invasions 19: 3161–3181.
De Marzo, L., 2016. Reperti di calcidoidei dell’eucalipto in Basilicata e Puglia (Hymenoptera Eulophidae; Torymidae). Entomologica 40, 5–17.
Dittrich-Schröder, G., 2014. Molecular ecology and management of Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in South Africa, pp. 1–163.

Dittrich-Schröder, G., Wingfield, M. J., Hurley, B. P. & Slippers, B. 2012. Diversity in Eucalyptus susceptibility to the gall-forming wasp Leptocybe invasa. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 14: 419–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-9563.2012.00583.x

Dittrich-Schröder, G., Harney, M., Neser, S., Joffe, T., Bush, S., Hurley, B.P., Wingfield,
M.J., Slippers, B. 2014. Biology and host preference of Selitrichodes neseri: A potential biological control agent of the Eucalyptus gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa. Biol. Control 78, 33–41.
Dittrich-Schröder, G., Hoareau, T.B., Hurley, B.P., Wingfield, M.J., Lawson, S., Nahrung,
H.F., Slippers, B. 2018. Population genetic analyses of complex global insect invasions in managed landscapes: a Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera) case study. Biological Control 20:
2395–2420.
Doǧanlar M. 2015. Diagnosis of Megastigmus spp. (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) reared from galls of Leptocybe invasa Fisher & Lasalle, 2004, (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) on Eucalyptus spp. (Myrtaceae), with description of a new species from South Africa. Entomofauna-Zeitschrift für Entomologie 36: 561–580.

Gevers, C.R., Dittrich-Schröder, G., Slippers, B. and Hurley, B.P. 2020. Interactions between hymenopteran species associated with gall-forming wasps: the Leptocybe invasa community as a case study. Agricultural and Forest Entomology https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12413

Huang, Z., Li, J., Lu,W. & Yang, Z. 2018. Parasitoids of the Eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe spp.: a global review. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25: 29983–29995.

Kelly, J., La Salle, J., Harney, M., Dittrich-Schröder & Hurley, B. 2012. Selitrichodes neseri n. sp., a new parasitoid of the eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae). Zootaxa 3333: 50-57.

Kim, I.K. & La Salle, J. 2008. A new genus and species of Tetrastichinae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) inducing galls in seed capsules of Eucalyptus. Zootaxa 1745: 63–68.

Kim, I.-K., Mendel, Z., Protasov, A., Blumberg, D. & La Salle, J. 2008. Taxonomy, biology and efficacy of two Australian parasitoids of the eucalyptus gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae). Zootaxa 1910: 1-20.

Klein, H. 2009. Wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) associated with galls in seed-capsules of Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Myrtaceae) in South Africa: species composition, trophic relationships and effects. Unpublished MSc thesis, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Mansfield S. 2016. New communities on eucalypts grown outside Australia. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7: 1812. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01812.

Mendel, Z., Protasov, A., Fisher, N. & La Salle, J. 2004. The taxonomy and natural history of Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) gen & sp. nov., an invasive gall inducer on Eucalyptus. Australian Journal of Entomology 43: 101–113.

Mendel, Z., Protasov, A., La Salle, J., Blumberg, D., Brand, D. & Branco, M. 2017. Classical biological control of two Eucalyptus gall wasps; main outcome and conclusions. Biological Control 105: 66–78.

Nugnes, F., Gebiola, M., Monti, M.M., Gualtieri, L., Giorgini, M., Wang, J. & Bernardo, U. 2015. Genetic diversity of the invasive gall wasp Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and of its Rickettsia endosymbiont, and associated sex-ratio differences. PLoS One 10: 1–20.

Otieno, B.A., Nahrung, H.F. & Steinbauer, M.J. 2019. Where did you come from? Where did you go? Investigating the origin of invasive Leptocybe species using distribution modelling. Forests 10: 115.

Protasov, A., Doğanlar, M., La Salle, J., Mendel, Z. 2008. Occurrence of two local Megastigmus species parasitic on the Eucalyptus gallwasp Leptocybe invasa in Israel and Turkey. Phytoparasitica, 36(5): 449-459.

van Noort, S. & Picker, M. 2011. Wasps, Bees, Ants. Class Insecta, Order Hymenoptera. Pp 140-146. In:  Picker, M. & Griffiths, C. (eds.) Alien & Invasive Animals. A South African perspective. Struik Nature.

Zheng, X.L., Li, J., Yang, Z.D. et al. 2014. A review of invasive biology, prevalence and management of Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae). African Entomology 22: 68–79.

Credits

Photographs © Mendel, Protasov, Fisher & La Salle.