What eats garlic mustard?

- Larval and adult flea beetles: The flea beetles Phyllotreta cruciferae and P. striolata, native to Europe, feed voraciously on the leaves of garlic mustard. This disrupts the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and, if flea beetle populations are maintained at high enough densities, can prevent garlic mustard from forming flowers and seeds.

- Larval moths: Adult moths of two European lepidopteran species deposit their eggs on garlic mustard leaves. The eggs hatch into larvae (caterpillars) that feed and grow rapidly on the leaves, creating large holes. The moth species used in garlic mustard control are Autographa and Plutella.

- Sawfly larvae: Athalia rosae is a sawfly species from Europe. Sawflies lay their eggs in rows along the edges of leaves, and when they hatch, the larvae quickly consume all the leaf material between the leaf’s veins, leaving behind skeletonized leaves. Adult sawflies are small and black with a reddish-yellow face.

- Fungal pathogens: Several fungal pathogens that cause disease in garlic mustard have been found in North America. Two that have promise as biological control agents are Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Alternaria brassicicola.