Native North American Azolla weevil, Stenopelmus rufinasus (coleoptera: Curculionidae), uses the invasive Old World Azolla pinnata as a host plant

Abstract

The native weevil, Stenopelmus rufinasus, a specialist herbivore on North American mosquito ferns (Azolla spp.), has adopted Azolla pinnata, an incipient invasive weed in Florida from the Old World. This situation, in which a weed has invaded the native area of a successful biological control agent of a congeneric weed in another region, is unique. Should A. pinnata escape eradication, S. rufinasus may prove useful as a control agent.