Mark McNeill

mark [dot] mcneill [at] agresearch [dot] co [dot] nz

Research interests

• Biosecurity research includes quantifying pathway risks (e.g. contaminants on overseas footwear), weevil trapping systems at ports and pathways for pest movement within New Zealand,
• Research on biological control and population dynamics of three pastoral weevil pests Sitona lepidus, Listronotus bonariensis and Sitona discoideus.
• Extensive experience in quarantine-based host range assessments and development of novel techniques for assessing host range (parasitoid-pathogenic bacteria combination).
• Tri-trophic interactions between biocontrol agents, weevils and plants
• Quantifying benefits of biological control on target pests in pastoral agriculture.

My main research goals are to help

• contribute to efforts ensuring that new pests do not establish in New Zealand
• improve the understanding of risks associated with pathways through which exotic species can reach New Zealand
• understand the biological and environmental processes that determine the success of biological control agents
• minimise the environmental and economic impacts of pests in New Zealand

Selected publications

Phillips CB, Baird DB, Iline II, McNeill MR, Proffitt JR, Goldson SL and Kean JM 2008. East meets west: adaptive evolution of an insect introduced for biological control. Journal of Applied Ecology in press.

McNeill MR, Hume DE, Ashby R, Ashby M, Brandon P, Guscott P, Tosswill R and Barton R 2007. Ryegrass production in Wairarapa, New Zealand: is biological control of Argentine stem weevil important? In: Popay AJ and Thom ER (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Fungal Endophytes of Grasses "From lab to farm" Grasslands Research and Practice Series 13: 301-306.

McNeill MR, Phillips CB, Bell NL and Proffitt JR 2006. Potential spread of pests in New Zealand through commercial transport of nursery plants. New Zealand Plant Protection 59: 75-79.

Goldson SL, McNeill MR, Proffitt JR and Barratt BIP. 2005. Host specificity testing and suitability of a "European" strain of the Braconid parasitoid Microctonus aethiopoides Loan as a biological control agent against Sitona lepidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in New Zealand. Biocontrol Science and Technology 15: 791–813.

Goldson SL, McNeill MR, Gerard PJ, Proffitt JR, Phillips CB, Cane RP and Murray PJ 2004. British-based search for natural enemies of the clover root weevil, Sitona lepidus in Northwest Europe. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 31: 233-240.

McNeill MR, Goldson SL, Proffitt JP, Phillips CB and Addison PJ 2002. A description of the commercial rearing and distribution of Microctonus hyperodae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for biological control of Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Biological Control 24: 167-175.

McNeill MR, Barratt BIP and Evans AA 2000. Behavioural acceptability of Sitona lepidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to the parasitoid Microctonus aethiopoides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) using the pathogenic bacterium Serratia marcescens Bizio. Biocontrol Science and Technology 10: 205–213.

McNeill MR, Baird DB and Goldson SL 1998. Evidence of density-dependent oviposition behaviour by Listronotus bonariensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Canterbury pasture. Bulletin of Entomological Research 88: 527-536.