Cricotopus lebetis (weed bioagent)
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Authors: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics
Source: CSIRO - BOLDsystems
Cricotopus lebetis (weed bioagent) Sublette, 1964 - (hydrilla tip mining midge)
This midge has been found since 1992 in Florida infesting the aquatic weed hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata). It has a semi-aquatic life style and the larvae are free swimming and herbivorous, mining the meristem of hydrilla and causing widespread damage to the weed. Feeding by the larvae kills the apical meristems and changes the architecture of hydrilla, thereby preventing or delaying the formation of surface mats by the weed. So far, it has been only collected from hydrilla. In Florida, the midge is mass reared for augmentative biological control of hydrilla in areas where this weed is still a problem.
The name of this species is considered to be a synonym of Cricotopus tricinctus (Meigen, 1818) by some authors.
