ABSTRACT
Phytophagous insects and mites often rate as pests of cultivated plants, and as such they frequently cause damage ranging from total loss of crops to no more than cosmetic blemishes, discolouration and distortion of host plants or their harvestable products. A veritable army of phytophagous insects of European origin have been adopted abroad as biological control agents in biological weed management strategies. Creeping thistle is a widespread and persistent Eurasian weed that flourishes even in the presence of a wide range of native thistle-infesting insects. Bracken is an important and often unwelcome plant, with a virtually worldwide distribution in temperate and subtropical regions. Docks are widespread and pernicious weeds. On farmland, they are notoriously difficult to control without the use of herbicides, and are therefore often a problem in organically grown crops. Long-leafed wattle is a fast-growing tree from south-eastern Australia, particularly renowned for its ability to bind light soils and thereby counter soil erosion.
