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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Pest Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420763
Research Project: Forecasting, Outbreak Prevention, and Ecology of Grasshoppers and Other Rangeland and Crop Insects in the Great Plains

Location: Pest Management Research

Title: First record of Lobesiodes euphorbiana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the United States of America, a biocontrol agent released against Euphorbia virgata (Euphorbiaceae) in Canada

Author
item Brown, Jordyn
item Campbell, Joshua
item GILLIGAN, TODD - Colorado State University
item Herreid, Judith
item MAGGIO, MELISSA - Montana Biological Weed Control Coordination Project
item Rand, Tatyana
item West, Natalie

Submitted to: The Canadian Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2025
Publication Date: 10/23/2025
Citation: Brown, J.M., Campbell, J.W., Gilligan, T.M., Herreid, J.S., Maggio, M., Rand, T.A., West, N.M. 2025. First record of Lobesiodes euphorbiana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in the United States of America, a biocontrol agent released against Euphorbia virgata (Euphorbiaceae) in Canada. The Canadian Entomologist. 157. Article e42. https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2025.10021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2025.10021

Interpretive Summary: The spurge leaf tying moth (Lobesia euphorbiana), was intentionally introduced into Canada in the 1980s as a biocontrol agent for leafy spurge, an important invasive weed in North America. The moth has never been reported in the United States, where it was not approved as a biocontrol agent. Here we report the first records of L. euphorbiana in Montana and North Dakota, United States. We also give possible reasons for its ‘sudden’ appearance and potential implications for its presence in the United States.

Technical Abstract: Lobesia euphorbiana Freyer (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), commonly known as the spurge leaf tying moth, was intentionally introduced into Canada in the 1980s as a biocontrol agent for leafy spurge, Eurphorbia virgata Waldst. & Kit. (Euphorbiaceae). The moth has never been reported in the United States, where it was not approved as a biocontrol agent. Here we report the first records of L. euphorbiana in Montana and North Dakota, United States. We also give possible reasons for its ‘sudden’ appearance and potential implications for its presence in the United States.