Acigona infusella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an agent for biological control of waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in Australia

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Abstract
The biology and host specificity of a South American moth, Acigona infusella (Wlk.), were studied in quarantine facilities in Australia. In choice tests on the host specificity of A. infusella, slight feeding by larvae occured on ginger, lettuce, banana, bullrush (Typha orientalis) and water primrose (Ludwigia peploides), but in starvation tests only waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) supported complete development. A decrease in larval mortality and increase in egg-mass size of A. infusella occured when a microsporidian, Vairimorpha sp.; infecting the colony was eliminated, suggesting that these insects may then perform more effectively as biological control agents in Australia than in South America. The damage to waterhyacinth cause bu larvae of A. infusella may complement attack by other biological control agents already established in Australia.