Larinus, U, Face, Lake Michigan

Collected by Noel Pavlovic who provides these tidbits. Larinus planus, a biocontrol weevil, for Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) that is infesting the federally threatened Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri). At the Indiana Dunes, it only infested late blooming flowers, but in Wisconsin it infests 40% of the heads and destroys a large substantial portion of the seeds. We are wishing to understand better the impacts of the three weevils on the demography of Pitcher's thistle. Photographed by Amber Reese.