Introduction of a Beetle from Trinidad into Mauritius to Control l'herbe Condé (Cordia macrostachya)

Abstract

In all periods of human history, inadvertently or deliberately, man has introduced plants or animals of one country into another. In some cases the consequence has been tragic, but in others his action has achieved the desired result. In the later Middle Ages the Arabs introduced into Europe many vegetables, some of which have become established; spinach, for example. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese introduced many plants and animals from the Old World to the New and vice versa. In modern times, however, these introductions have been for a different purpose, frequently described as ‘biological control’; by which is meant that man can use a natural enemy of an organism to cause its destruction for him. But this method has not always been successful because not all the factors that are involved in such transfers from one place to another are known, and, perhaps, not all of them can be completely known. But so far as they can be known, they ought to be taken into consideration.