Small-leaf privet
Small-leaf privet (Ligustrum sinense) is a serious environmental weed throughout Australia, with infestations threatening biodiversity in NSW and elsewhere. It also invades plantation forests, orchards and pastures.
This sub-project focuses on the privet lace bug Leptoypha hospita, a biocontrol agent for small-leaf privet that was introduced in New Zealand in 2015. The lace bug has been extensively tested in quarantine in the USA and New Zealand and as a result, its biology, life history and host range are well documented. In its native range (eastern Asia) the lace bug is reported to attack a range of Ligustrum species. Ligustrum australianum, a native species in Australia, is in the same genus as the target weed and needs to be first tested to determine if the lace bug should be considered any further for biocontrol of small-leaf privet in Australia.
Andrew McConnachie of NSW Department of Primary Industries is leading this sub-project.
Small-leaf privet (Ligustrum sinense) at Mt Manjura in the Australian Capital Territory (Photo: B. Gooden).
Previous research
Detailed information about the privet lace bug can be found in the release application submitted to the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority:
And in a fact sheet produced by Landcare Research in New Zealand:
https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/105889/Privet-lace-bug.pdf
Trust-funded sub-project
The key activities of the sub-project are to:
- Import the privet lace bug into an Australian quarantine facility and establish/maintain a culture.
- Test the lace bug on the Australian native species Ligustrum australianum under no-choice and paired-choice conditions in the quarantine.
If the lace bug feeds and develops on L. australianum at significant levels, the culture will be terminated, and the findings reported. If, however, the tests demonstrate that the lace bug does not pose a threat to this native species, the insect culture will continue to be maintained, and a proposal for testing additional species relevant to the Australian context will be developed for consideration by the NSW Environmental Trust.
