
Neochetina eichhorniae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a natural enemy of water hyacinth and its morphology as well as biology has been investigated previously. In this study, the host range of N. eichohorniae was examined using the following 7 groups of plants: Pontederiaceae (water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes; hastate-leaf pondweed, Monochoria hastata); food crops (rice, Oryza sativa; maize, Zea mays; sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas and cassava, Manihot esculenta); vegetables (cucumber, Cucumis sativus; mustard greens, Brassica juncea; turnip, Raphanus sativus; water spinach, Ipomoea aquatica; pepper elder, Peperomia pellucida; cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata); herbaceous (boat lily, Tradescantia discolor, gotu kola, Centella asiatica, purple-heart, Tradescantia pallida); fruits (mango, Mangifera indica; longan, Dimocarpus longan; rambutan, Nephelium lappaceum); water plants (sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera; red water lily, Nymphaea rubra, yellow bur-head, Limnocharis flava) and industrial plants (sugarcane, Saccharum ssp.; peanut, Arachis hypogaea). The N. eichohorniae was found to be the only survivor that developed and completed its life cycle on water hyacinth. The N. eichohorniae caused only minimal damage to hastate-leaved pondweed and its life cycle was not completed on this weed. When fed with water hyacinth, N. eichohorniae female produced 358.9 eggs on average and the egg-laying period was 16 weeks. Forty three percent of eggs were laid from the 5th to the 8th weeks after females emerged from cocoons. The hatchability of N. eichohorniae eggs was 75.2% and 66.8% of the larvae could survive and became pupae. Approximately 79.1% of the pupae emerged as adults. Among the adults, the female ratio was 48.7%. These results indicated that N. eichohorniae could be considered as a natural enemy to be used for biological control of water hyacinth.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
