Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit
Project Number: 3094-32000-042-006-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Feb 16, 2017
End Date: Feb 14, 2022
Objective:
Import the Guineagrass moth, B. kaueae, into the USDA Biological Control Quarantine Facility at Moore Airbase, Edinburg, TX. Establish colonies of this insect on local Texas M. infestus. Test a short list of key native, exotic, and economic grasses to determine if this agent is suitable for full-host range testing. Key test grasses are: Panicum virgatum, switchgrass; Megathryus maximus, giant Guineagrass; and Sorghum bicolor, milo/sorghum. If testing proves that the agent does not feed on these key non-targets, additional funding beyond this proposal will be needed for full host range testing and other studies needed for the regulatory process.
Approach:
Import the East African Guineagrass moth, B. kaueae, into the USDA Biological Control Quarantine Facility at Moore Airbase, Edinburg, TX. Establish colonies of this insect on local Texas M. infestus. Test a short list of key native, exotic and economic grasses to determine if this agent is suitable for full-host range testing. The key test grasses are: Panicum virgatum, switchgrass; Megathryus maximus, giant Guineagrass; and Sorghum bicolor, milo/sorghum.
