Conservation concern as alien aphid detected on Kangaroo Island
University of South Australia Media Release
An invasive species of aphid could put some threatened plant species on Kangaroo Island at risk as researchers from the University of South Australia confirm Australia’s first sighting of Aphis lugentis on the Island’s Dudley Peninsula.
It is another blow for Kangaroo Island’s environment, especially following the Black Summer bushfires that decimated more than half the island and 96 per cent of Flinders Chase National Park.
Collected by wildlife ecologist Associate Professor Topa Petit and identified by colleagues from the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the black aphids were found feeding on seedlings of Senecio odoratus, a native species of daisy, commonly known as the scented groundsel.
Of 16 native Senecio species on the island, at least ten are of conservation concern.
Originating from North America, the sap-sucking black aphids have spread across multiple continents over the past 20 years. This first record of the pest in Australia.
Assoc Prof Petit says the alien aphid species could threaten plants in the Compositae (daisy) family.
“Aphids were tended by several species of native ants that were feeding on their honeydew, showing easy integration for the pest in its new environment,” Dr Petit says.
“The presence of Aphis lugentis on Kangaroo Island could have serious consequences on seedling survival of Senecio and related species – as well as unknown ones for native ant communities.”
Currently, 1,257 of Australia’s threatened and endangered species are directly affected by 207 invasive plants, 57 animals and three pathogens. The most recent estimates found the cost of controlling invasive species and economic losses to farmers in 2011-12 was A$13.6 billion.
Once established across Australia, invasive species can be very difficult to eradicate.
Entomology diagnostician, Cameron Brumley from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia, and geneticists Monica Kehoe and Cuiping Wang, examined the aphid and found matching DNA in a collection from Hurstville, NSW, indicating the greater spread of aphid across Australia. Authorities have been alerted.
“It is still unclear how some fragile species of Kangaroo Island are coping following last year’s bushfires, so I recommend that attention be paid to aphids present on plants related to daisies, on the island, but also on the mainland considering the likely presence of the aphid in other states. Its distribution needs to be mapped,” Dr Petit says.
“This aphid was probably introduced to Australia on ornamental plants. Locally native plants and native gardens offer better habitats for native wildlife and lower invasion risks. We need to learn to appreciate our remarkable native flora.”
Further Notes Australia has a long history of invasive species, with more than 3000 species introduced to Australia since 1770. Some of the most notorious examples of invasive species include: The CANE TOAD – Introduced to Australia in the 1930s as a biological control for sugar cane beetles, its population has grown from 102 to more than 200 million, wreaking havoc on the Australian ecosystem at a rate of 50km every year. PATERSON’S CURSE (or Salvation Jane) – This purple-flowering plant was introduced to Australian gardens in the 1880s, but quickly became a rampant weed. Now a target for biological control, it costs the Australian economy more than $250 million annually through lost productivity in pastures, control costs, and wool contamination. EUROPEAN RABBITS – Introduced for hunting and food in the 1850s, Australia’s new rabbit population exploded, destroying crops, native flora, and land. Biological controls including the Myxoma Virus and the Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus have helped control populations. RED FIRE ANTS – Native to South America, these are highly invasive, aggressive ants that have a venomous and repetitive sting that can cause painful pustules, and anaphylaxis. The Federal Government now has a ten-year, $411 million plan to eradicate red fire ants from Southeast Queensland.
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The AIM Network
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wam
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Consume Less
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Consume Less
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corvusboreus
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Bill
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Michael Taylor
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DrakeN
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Michael Taylor
Return to home pageSome good news.
This warmed the little cockles of my heart (M.T.):
I hope the aphids have been discovered in time to eradicate them on KI and a project to find them on the mainland is underway. There is always the unexpected after disasters and the KI fire is no exception: I have lost the author: “Among rare flora discoveries are the Paracaleana Duck Orchid, which hasn’t before been recorded on the island for 30 years. A variety of the native Chenopods shrub, not seen on the island for more than 50 years, is thriving after lying dormant in the ground for half a century. The rare Kangaroo Island trigger-plant (Stylidium tepperanum), which catapults pollen from its vibrant magenta flowers onto insects, is regenerating. Eucalypt, which have adapted to withstand and even thrive after fires, shoot new green growth from buds hidden beneath the blackened trunks and branches in a process known as epicormic sprouting. It’s a stark contrast to the black, ashen landscape that was left following the once-in-a-100-year fires.” A retired teacher friend, hunts for flora mostly orchids: “When I go in search of plants with the Botany Group of the FNSSA (Field Naturalist Society of South Australia), or for orchids with NOSSA (Native Orchid Society of South Australia), or when I do surveys of threatened orchid species with DEWNR (Department Environment, Water and Natural Resources), or orchid seed collection with the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, or go on weeding parties to protect endangered species, the destination is always one of these deprived, rejected sites. The orchids I see are those adapted to or just hanging on in such sites. We never see orchids that lived on better soils, say on the Adelaide Plains. How many have become extinct?”- The South Australian Naturalist 91
ps poor old tigers not
The Kangaroo’s are lying in a nice healthy crop of cape weed or Arctotheca calendula. This is another introduced species and is naturalised throughout much of Southern Australia. https://farmernews.com.au/2019/11/04/capeweed-indicative-of-a-larger-problem/
Here’s hoping something can be done to stop the aphid spreading like cape weed.
@Michael, now that’s cute.
Apart from new threats posed by the accidental import of black aphids, another threat to many species of native Senecio is eradication through misidentification in agriculture.
To most graziers, any of the yellow flowering senecios are immediately assumed to be ‘fireweed’ (Senecio madagascarensis) which is toxic to stock, and thus are aggressively targetted with herbicides.
The DPI has some excellent field guides available (eg Legumes and Herbs of coast NSW by Harry &Carol Rose) but it a rare breed of farmer that takes the time to sort out their daisies
Reading between the lines, seems KI is being prepped as one of Australia’s future wildlife preserves basically off limits to humans, see the USA Wildland Project. https://nwri.org/the-wildlands-project/
Only special people will be allowed to visit such places in the not too distant future, special people who don’t need to wear masks. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-new-covid-divide-one-rule-for-the-elite-another-for-the-rest-of-us
The biggest threat that farmers and grazers faced on the island was the soil itself. The soil on the island is deficient in cobalt, which is also one of the theories behind the demise of the ancient Kartan people.
Kartan comes from the word “Karta” – the name given to the island by mainland Aborigines. Significantly, perhaps, Karta means “island of the dead.”
But please don’t ask me about the significance of cobalt. The explanation given to me has been lost.
Google can be your friend, Michael.
This is from the WA agri mob:
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/livestock-biosecurity/cobalt-deficiency-sheep-and-cattle
Thank you, Drake. I was too lazy. ☹️