Potential Classical Biological Control of Invasive Himalayan Yellow Raspberry,Rubus ellipticus(Rosaceae)

Rubus ellipticus is one of the world's worst invasive alien species. It is a serious problematic weed in Hawai'i and has naturalized in many other countries. Biological control is being considered as a means to suppress it by introducing natural enemies from Asia, its native region. In this paper, we report 62 herbivorous insect species in 22 families that were collected on R. ellipticus during 2006–2010 in China. Two leaf-rolling moth species, Epinotia ustulana and Epiblema tetragonana; two warty beetle species, Chlamisus setosus and Chlamisus sp.; two flea beetle species in the genus Chaetocnema; four unidentified weevil species; five unidentified buprestids; one pyralid species; and one sawfly species were considered important. We also report results of preliminary host-range determinations for some of them. In addition, we summarize the literature on natural enemies associated with Rubus species in Asia, which encompasses 50 arthropod species in 14 families and 63 fungi species in 18 orders.