Two pot experiments were conducted to assess the impact of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) infected with AR37 a novel strain of the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii on porina (Wiseana cervinata) larvae The wildtype (WT) endophyte a commercially available novel endophyte strain named AR1 and Nil endophyte ryegrass were also tested Larval survival was reduced by AR37 in both experiments and by WT in one experiment Larval weights and head widths and tiller damage were also reduced by AR37 and to a lesser extent by WT Shortterm bioassays with excised tillers showed that W cervinata were slightly deterred from feeding on AR37 but only when offered a choice between AR37 and Nil No preference was shown between Nil and WT No effects of AR1 on W cervinata were observed

Responses of adult Argentine stem weevil (ASW) to meadow fescue infected with the endophyte Neotyphodium uncinatum and to two loline alkaloids produced by the fungus were investigated Endophyte in two different meadow fescue seedlines did not affect adult ASW feeding scores but reduced oviposition compared with endophytefree controls In a nochoice experiment adult ASW were given artificial diets containing Nformyl loline (NFL) or Nacetyl norloline (NANL) at three concentrations or a control diet with no lolines Mortality was significantly higher at the highest rate of NFL than for lower rates and the control For NANL mortality was increased at both the lowest and the highest concentrations Feeding scores were higher on control than loline diets but only after 4 weeks In a choice experiment NFL appeared to have no effect on ASW feeding preference whereas there was less feeding at the highest concentration of NANL compared with the control diet

In a choice trial in a glasshouse, infection of tall fescue with the endophyte AR542 significantly reduced feeding by adult Argentine stem weevil (ASW) in the cultivar J esup but not in Advance in comparison with the same cultivars without endophyte. Paddocks of Quantum infected with AR542 that were sampled on two Northland farms consistently had fewer tillers damaged by Argentine stem weevil than equivalent paddocks of endophyte-free (Nil) tall fescue. In comparison to Nil plants, AR542 in Jesup and Advance had significantly fewer plants and tillers damaged by adult black beetle in a glasshouse choice trial. Fewer tillers were also damaged by adult black beetle in Advance tall fescue infected with AR501 and AR502 than in Nil Advance in a small plot field trial at Kerikeri. In a similar trial at Ruakura, the occurrence of adult black beetle and signs of larval damage were high in endophyte-free plots and considerably reduced in endophyte-infected plots. It is concluded that the nontoxic endophytes will lessen damage by black beetle and ASW in a range of tall fescue cultivars and that this is likely to contribute to increases in productivity and persistence of this forage grass. Keywords: Argentine stem weevil, black beetle, AR542 endophyte, Neotyphodium, tall fescue

Epoxyjanthitrems I–IV (1–4) and epoxyjanthitriol (5) were isolated from seed of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) infected with the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae var. lolii. Although structures for epoxyjanthitrems I–IV have previously been proposed in the literature, this is the first report of a full structural elucidation yielding NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance) assignments for all five epoxyjanthitrem compounds, and additionally, it is the first isolation of epoxyjanthitriol (5). Epoxyjanthitrem I induced tremors in mice and gave a dose dependent reduction in weight gain and feeding for porina (Wiseana cervinata), a common pasture pest in New Zealand. These data suggest that epoxyjanthitrems are involved in the observed effects of the AR37 endophyte on livestock and insect pests.

Invertebrates present in soil samples taken from plots of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) infected with two nontoxic strains of Neotyphodium endophyte (AR501 and AR542) at Aorangi near Palmerston North and one strain (AR501) at Lincoln in Canterbury together with endophytefree controls at both sites were determined in autumn 2002 Roots taken from these samples were stained and checked for the presence of arbuscular mycorrhiza At Lincoln numbers of root aphid (Aploneura lentisci) associated with plants infected with AR501 were significantly less than those on endophytefree plants while grass grub numbers (Costelytra zealandica) did not differ between treatments Beneficial invertebrates Collembola mites and earthworms were not affected by endophyte at either site and neither was colonisation of roots by mycorrhiza