''Chaetorellia succinea'' is a species of tephritid fruit fly that was accidentally released in 1991 into the United States and had since become one of the major

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...

s against the

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

yellow starthistle ''Centaurea solstitialis'', the yellow star-thistle, is a species of thorny plant in the genus ''Centaurea'', which is part of the family Asteraceae. A winter annual, it is native to the Mediterranean Basin region and Invasive species, invasive ...

(''Centaurea solstitialis''). It was not released intentionally for fears that it could become a pest of safflower, ''

Carthamus tinctorius Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies alon ...

'' L. It was probably introduced from a shipment of yellow starthistle heads from Greece. ''C. succinea'' has also been found to feed on two other introduced ''Centaurea'' species (Maltese starthistle, ''

Centaurea melitensis ''Centaurea melitensis'' (called Maltese star-thistle in Europe, tocalote or tocolote in western North America) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae, high, with resin-dotted leaves and spine-tipped phyllaries. This plant is native to the ...

'' L.; Sicilian starthistle, '' Centaurea sulphurea'' Willd.) and the Native American starthistle (''

Centaurea americana ''Centaurea americana'', commonly called American starthistle or American basketflower, is an annual native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights ba ...

'') Nutt. ''C. succinea'' probably displaces another biocontrol fly, ''

Chaetorellia australis ''Chaetorellia australis'' is a species of Tephritidae, tephritid fruit fly known as the yellow starthistle peacock fly. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed Centaurea solstitialis, yellow starthistle (''Cent ...

'', where the two co-occur.

Distribution

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

, South to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. Introduced to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

References

Tephritinae Insects used for control of invasive plants Insects described in 1844 Taxa named by Oronzio Gabriele Costa Diptera of Europe Diptera of Asia Diptera of North America {{Tephritinae-stub