Description
Test comment
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Hexapoda | Insecta | Lepidoptera | Pyralidae | Acentria |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Established | Expanding | Introduced | Unconfirmed | North America | Eurasia | Shipping(Unspecified),Ornamental(Aquatic Plant),Fisheries(Fisheries Accidental),Natural Dispersal(ND) |
History of Spread
The aquatic moth Acentria ephemerella (aquatic moth) is native to Europe, in fresh and brackish waters, from Scandinavia and the British Isles to the Caspian Sea (Batra 1977). In 1927, it was first collected in North America, from the St. Lawrence River, at Montreal Quebec. Subsequently, it was collected at many sites in the Great Lakes Basin, including Minetto NY in 1938 (Forbes 1938), two sites in Quebec in 1946-1950 (Munroe 1950), sites along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario (Judd 1950), in western MA (Treat 1954), and Marthas Vineyard MA (1954, US National Museum of Natural History collections). By the 1990s, it was found in western Ontario, MI, WI, MN, and IA (Newman and Maher 1995; Scholtens and Balogh 1996), and as far south as MD (Ferguson 2000). Most collections have been of free-flying males, and occasional flying females, captured at lights, often at some distance from bodies of water. This small, nondescript moth is easily overlooked, and its spread has very likely been underestimated. Because this moth's caterpillars feed on aquatic plants, particularly Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian Watermilfoil), this species has been investigated as a biocontrol agent (Batra 1977; Buckingham and Ross 1981).
The first record of A. ephemerella in the Chesapeake Basin was at the northern edge of the watershed in Varna NY in 1950 (Munroe 1950). Batra (1977) reared some larvae (apparently obtained for the St. Lawrence River NY) with M. spicatum and water from Chesapeake Bay (Sandy Point, near Annapolis) successfully in the laboratory, but did not mention the occurrence of this moth in the Bay. In 1996, Douglas Ferguson collected free-flying A. ephemerella 3 km west of Doncaster MD (Charles County), within 1-2 km of Chesapeake Bay. Additional collections were made in 1997 and 2000, 3-5 km from the upper Bay, 3 km north of Charlestown MD (Cecil County) (Ferguson 2000). The occurrence of larvae of this moth in Chesapeake Bay seems likely, but has not been verified.
History References- Batra 1977; Buckingham and Ross 1981; Ferguson 2000; Forbes 1938; Goater 1986; Judd 1950; Munroe 1947; Newman and Maher 1995; Scholtens and Balogh 1996; Treat 1954; US National Museum of Natural History collections
Invasion Comments
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | 0.0 | 30.0 | 21.0 | |
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 0.0 | ||
| Oxygen | well-oxygenated | |||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-meso |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Typical Longevity (yrs | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
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| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Acentria ephemerella is an aquatic moth whose larvae feed on many species of native and introduced submerged aquatic vegetation. Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian Watermilfoil) is the best-studied food plant. Adults have been collected near Chesapeake Bay (Ferguson 2000), but A. ephemerella's occurrence and impacts on submerged vegetation in the Bay have not been verified. Similar aquatic pyralids are native in the Bay (Thorp et al. 1997). It is not known whether this moth had played any part in the decline of Eurasian Watermilfoil in the Bay, or its apparent transformation from a pest species to a manageable SAV plant.
References- Ferguson 2000; Thorp et al. 1997
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Acentria ephemerella is an aquatic moth whose larvae feed on many species of native and introduced submerged aquatic vegetation. Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian Watermilfoil) is the best-studied food plant. While this herbivore lacks the specificity of a classical biocontrol plant, it has been used experimentally to cause declines of M. spicatum (Van Dusen 2000).
References- Van Dusen 2000
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Acentria ephemerella is an aquatic moth whose larvae feed on many species of native and introduced submerged aquatic vegetation. Native species consumed include Najas guadalupensis, Elodea canadensis, and Prosperinaca sp. (Buckingham and Ross 1981). Adults have been collected near Chesapeake Bay (Ferguson 2000), but A. ephemerella's occurrence and impacts on submerged vegetation in the Bay have not been verified. Similar aquatic pyralids are native in the Bay (Thorp et al. 1997).
References- Buckingham and Ross 1981; Ferguson 2000; Thorp et al. 1997
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Acentria ephemerella is an aquatic moth whose larvae feed on many species of native and introduced submerged aquatic vegetation. Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian Watermilfoil) is the best-studied food plant. While this herbivore lacks the specificity of a classical biocontrol plant, it has been used experimentally to cause declines of M. spicatum (Gross et al. 2001). Adults have been collected near Chesapeake Bay (Ferguson 2000), but A. ephemerella's occurrence and impacts on submerged vegetation in the Bay have not been verified. Similar aquatic pyralids are native in the Bay (Thorp et al. 1997).
References- Ferguson 2000; Gross et al. 2001; Thorp et al. 1997
References
Apperson, Charles S.; Axtell, Richard C. (1981) Arthropods associated with shoreline deposits of Eurasian watermilfoil in the Currituck Sound, North Carolina, Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society 16: 53-591996 09.522 Field and lab methods in water quality analysis- Fall 1996.. http://gurukel.ucc.american.edu/banta/qf_aalltxhhtml
Batra, S. W. T. (1977) Bionomics of the aquatic moth, Acentropus niveus (Olivier), a potential biological control agent for Eurasian watermilfoil and hydrilla, Journal of the New York Entomological Society 85: 143-152
Buckingham, Gary R.; Ross, Bonnie M. (1981) Notes on the biology amd host specificity of Acentria nivea (=Acentropus niveus), Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 19: 32-36
2000 Conversations with Paul Fofonoff, about introduced moths in the Chesapeake Bay region.. None
Forbes, T. M. (1938) Acentropus in America (Lepidoptera, Pyralididae), Journal of the New York Entomological Society 46: 338
Goater, Barry (1986) British Pyralid Moths: A Guide to Their Identification, , Colchester, UK. Pp.
Gross, Elisabeth; Johnson, Robert L.; Hairston, Nelson G. (2001) Experimental evidence for changes in submersed macrophyte species composition caused by the herbivore Acentria ephemerella (Lepidoptera)., Oecologia 127: 105-114
Judd, W. W. (1950) Acentropus niveus (Oliv.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on the shore of Lake Erie with a consideration of its distribution in North America, Canadian Entomologist 82: 250-252
Lippson, Alice J.; Haire, Michael S.; Holland, A. Frederick; Jacobs, Fred; Jensen, Jorgen; Moran-Johnson, R. Lynn; Polgar, Tibor T.; Richkus, William (1979) Environmental Atlas of the Potomac Estuary, , Baltimore, MD. Pp.
Munroe, Eugene G. (1947) Further North American records of Acentropus niveus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Canadian Entomologist 79: 120
Newman, Raymond M.; Maher, Lynn Mizner (1995) New records and distribution of aquatic insect herbivores of watermilfoils (Haloragaceae: Myriophyllum spp.) in Minnesota, Entomological News 106: 6-12
Pennak, Robert W. (1978) Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, , New York. Pp.
Scholtens, B. G.; Balogh, G. J. (1996) Spread of Acentria ephemerella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in central North America, Great Lakes Entomologist 29: 21-24
Stevenson, J. Court; Confer, Nedra M. (1978) Summary of available information on Chesapeake Bay submersed vegetation, , Annapolis MD. Pp.
Thorp, Angela G.; Jones, R. Christian; Kelso, Donald R. (1997) A comparison of water-column macroinvertebrate communities in beds of differing aquatic vegetation in the tidal freshwater Potomac River, Estuaries 20: 86-95
Treat, Asher E. (1954) Acentropus niveus in Massachusetts, remote from water, The Lepidopterists' News 8: 23-25