Flowering rush weevil nears approval as a biocontrol agent in the U.S.

Good afternoon,

I’m passing on the great news that we are getting very close to having the flowering rush weevil approved as a biocontrol agent in the U.S. The Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment for Release of Bagous nodulosus for Biological Control of Flowering Rush in the Continental United States is now in the Federal Register and is open for public comment until 3 October. Woohoo!!

If you, or someone you know, would like to provide support, please go to: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/09/03/2024-19639/notice-of-availability-of-an-environmental-assessment-for-release-of-bagous-nodulosus-for-biological

We have been working hard to prepare for future releases in the U.S. and Canada released their first weevils this year. Here is a brief update of our activities:

• Natalie West and her team at USDA ARS in Sidney MT have been successfully rearing B. nodulosus in their quarantine facilities.
• Melissa Maggio (MT Biocontrol Project), Bryce Christiaens (Missoula County Dept of Ecology & Extension), Natalie, and I have been establishing pre-release monitoring plots in the Flathead System in anticipation of future releases.
• Melissa and Bryce are creating rearing ponds in Missoula MT and I have begun establishing rearing pools in Puyallup WA. The weevil can be challenging to rear and once approved for release in the U.S., we are planning to first begin rearing weevils in pools/ponds to build populations for larger release numbers in a few years.
• I will be looking for potential monitoring and release sites in Washington next year.
• Rob Bourchier (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) received weevils from Patrick (CABI Switzerland) and Natalie in spring 2024. He released some of the weevils at a site in Ontario (first release in North America!!). He is also working on rearing weevils in quarantine in Lethbridge, AB and outdoor tanks in Ottawa.
• Dave Ensing (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) attempted to release weevils in British Columbia this year but there were some issues with the proposed sites so he sent material to Janine Brooke (B.C. Ministry of Ministry of Forests, Timber, Range and Economics Division) who released weevil eggs/larvae on flowering rush that she is growing in stock tanks in Kamloops.
• Patrick is conducting some additional impact studies in Switzerland and, although the study isn’t complete, he is pretty excited by the expected results. He plans to conduct additional multi-year studies in the future.
• Patrick also continued with finalizing the host-specificity testing of the fly, Phytoliriomyza ornata. Unfortunately, they had some issues with having enough adult flies so were unable to complete testing this year but based off the current results, we can likely begin writing the petition for field release this winter and adding supplemental information next year.

The next few years are going to be exciting! Please let me know if you have any questions.

All the best,
Jenn