[NatureNS] Viburnum Leaf Beetle

From: "Ogden, Jeffrey" <OGDENJB@gov.ns.ca>
To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] Viburnum Leaf Beetle
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Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:07:37 +0000
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If Viburnum =3D  Snowball bush I get several inquiries each year of shrubs =
being completely defoliated from across the province

Jeff
________________________________
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] on beha=
lf of Christopher Majka [c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 6:32 PM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Hi David,

On 30-Oct-12, at 6:15 PM, David Patriquin wrote:

Thanks Chris Majka for the expert info. Do you have any comments on the dam=
age it has caused to witherod in areas where it occurs in N.S.?

Well, this is how we concluded our paper:

"Thus far, the impact of P. viburni in this region has not been noted to be=
 significant, although occasional significant defoliation of shrubs has bee=
n reported (G. Selig pers. comm.). Weston and Desurmont (2002) wrote that, =
"Viburnum leaf beetle has the potential to become a major landscape pest be=
cause of its ability to kill susceptible viburnums if allowed to defoliate =
shrubs for several years in succession." Young (2004) wrote that, "Heavy in=
festations ... could defoliate shrubs, cause dieback, and eventually kill p=
lants. Costs to homeowners, parks, arboretums, municipalities, and nurserie=
s to manage heavy infestations ... and to replace killed plants could be hi=
gh. Quarantines imposed ... would represent an economic burden to the many =
growers who export nursery stock ...." Given such concerns, ongoing monitor=
ing of populations of P. viburni in the region would not be imprudent."

Gary Selig showed me photos of Viburnum plants in Bridgewater that had been=
 significantly defoliated (year after year) by P. viburni. In other areas w=
here I have found the beetle, for example in Halifax and Salt Springs, the =
damage has been much less severe. I've certainly never seen extensive defol=
iation such as has been found in areas in New England where the beetle is f=
ound.

Also, the distribution of the Viburnum leaf beetle in the Maritimes has bee=
n (at least until this point) spotty and localized. In many areas where I'v=
e looked at Viburnum there has been no sign of the beetle at all.

Cheers!

Chris

Quoting Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca<mailto:c.majka@ns.sympat=
ico.ca>>:

Hi David,

On 30-Oct-12, at 3:25 PM, David Patriquin wrote:

Speaking of pests, Gary Saunders of McPhail Woods in PEI gave a  wonderful =
presentation to the NS Wild Flora Society last week on   "Restoring the Aca=
dian Forest" in which he mentioned that an  invasive pest is aggressively c=
hewing down witherod (wild raisin) in  PEI, something I think we should be =
on the lookout for in NS.    I  believe it is the Viburnum Leaf Beetle, htt=
p://www.gov.pe.ca/af/agweb/index.php3?number=3D74367&lang=3Df
It has been sighted in Nova Scotia on domestic Vibrunums (2005), and  possi=
bly as early as 1924.
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/csphoto.html
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=3DafficheN&cpsidt=3D18705014
http://www.entsoc.org/PDF/Pubs/Periodicals/AE/AE-2007/Summer/ Weston.pdf

Laurent LeSage and I wrote a paper on Pyrrhalta viburni (the Viburnum  Leaf=
 Beetle) in the Maritime Provinces back in 2007:

Majka, C.G., and LeSage, L. 2007. Introduced leaf beetles of the  Maritime =
Provinces, 3: the Viburnum leaf beetle Pyrrhalta viburni  (Paykull) (Coleop=
tera: Chrysomelidae). Proceedings of the  Entomological Society of Washingt=
on 109(2): 454-462.

A PDF version of the paper is available at:

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/PDF/Pyrrhalta_viburni.pdf

We were the ones that reported the earliest North American records of  the =
species from 1924 collected in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

We posited two possible pathways of introduction:

1. In relation to the early habitations in the area dating from 1605  (and,=
 indeed, in preliminary data from the area, the proportion of  introduced b=
eetles in the area of Annapolis Royal appears to be twice  as high as the p=
rovincial average); and

2. In association with the Annapolis Royal Nurseries, the largest and  most=
 comprehensive horticultural nursery in eastern Canada established  in 1885=
. By checking historical catalogues were able to ascertain that  in 1927 th=
e Nurseries were selling three exotic Palearctic species of  Viburnum (V. o=
pulus L., V. tomentosum Shasta, and V. plicatum Thunb.).

There is much more detail and information in the paper itself. In any  even=
t, the Viburnum Leaf Beetle is now widely established in the  Maritime Prov=
inces including large areas of the mainland of Nova  Scotia. The earliest r=
ecords from both Prince Edward Island and New  Brunswick are from 1995.

All the best,

Chris


Christopher Majka  <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca<mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>=
> | Halifax, Nova Scotia,  Canada

* Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum | http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/rese=
arch-asfr.htm
* Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin | http://www.coleopsoc.org/
* Subject Editor: ZooKeys | http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/jour=
nal/index
* Review Editor: Zootaxa | http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/taxa/Coleoptera.h=
tml
* Associate Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society | http://w=
ww.acadianes.org/journal.html
* Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera | http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environmen=
t/NHR/PDF/index.html
* Editor: Bugguide, Coleoptera http://bugguide.net

Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like an old war- hor=
se at the sound of a trumpet. - Charles Darwin





David Patriquin
6165 Murray Place
Halifax, N.S.
Canada B3H 1R9
e-mail: patriqui@dal.ca<mailto:patriqui@dal.ca>
Phone: 902-4235716

Professor of Biology (retired)
Dalhousie University http://www.dal.ca

Halifax Field Naturalists http://halifaxfieldnaturalists.ca
Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society http://nswildflora.ca
Young Naturalists Club of Nova Scotia http://ync.nature1st.net/
Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization http://wrweo.ca
Control of Chinch Bug without Pesticides http://versicolor.ca/lawns





Christopher Majka  <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca<mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>=
> | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

* Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum | http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/rese=
arch-asfr.htm
* Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin | http://www.coleopsoc.org/
* Subject Editor: ZooKeys | http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/jour=
nal/index
* Review Editor: Zootaxa | http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/taxa/Coleoptera.h=
tml
* Associate Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society | http://w=
ww.acadianes.org/journal.html
* Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera | http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environmen=
t/NHR/PDF/ind