ABSTRACT: The wild rice, Zizania latifolia Turcz, used to be one of the important aquatic vegetables
cultivated
in
China.
Recently,
the
golden
apple
snail
-
GAS
(Pomacea
canaliculata
(Lamarck))
was
found
to
be
a
major
invasive
pest
attacking
Z.
latifolia.
To
control
efficiently
GAS,
predation
by
the
Chinese
soft-shelled
turtles
(Pelodiscus
sinensis)
on
GAS
was
evaluated
in
laboratory
and
field
trials.
P.
sinensis
had
a
strong
predatory
capacity
and
selectivity
for
GAS
both
in
laboratory
and
field
conditions.
All
the
sizes
of
P.
sinensis prefer to capture smaller snails. The optimum
number of P. sinensis released in Z. latifolia field was dependent on the density of over-wintered
GAS, and varied between 30 and 50 turtles per 666.7 m
. The number of GAS declined in the
fields with turtles as compared to turtle-free field. A pattern of releasing P. sinensis in Z. latifolia
fields was developed and widely adopted by farmers because of much more benefit besides
biologically controlling GAS.