Relative host plant species use by the lantana biological control agent Aconophora compressa (Membracidae) across its native and introduced ranges

Abstract

Multiple host plant use Non-target effects Polyphagy Primary host plant Secondary host plant Weed biological control a b s t r a c t Aconophora compressa Walker (Hemiptera: Membracidae) was released in 1995 against the weed lantana in Australia, and is now found on multiple host plant species. The intensity and regularity at which A. compressa uses different host species was quantified in its introduced Australian range and also its native Mexican range. In Australia, host plants fell into three statistically defined categories, as indicated by the relative rates and intensities at which they were used in the field. Fiddlewood (Citharexylum spinosum L.: Verbenaceae) was used much more regularly and at higher densities than any other host sampled, and alone made up the first group. The second group, lantana (Lantana camara L.: Verbenaceae; pink variety) and geisha girl (Duranta erecta L.: Verbenaceae), were used less regularly and at much lower densities than fiddlewood. The third group, Sheena's gold (another variety of D. erecta), jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Don: Bignoniaceae) and myoporum (Myoporum acuminatum R. Br.: Myoporaceae), were used infrequently and at even lower densities. In Mexico, the insect was found at relatively low densities on all hosts relative to those in Australia. Densities were highest on L. urticifolia, D. erecta and Tecoma stans (L.) Juss. ex Kunth (Bignoniaceae), which were used at similar rates to one another. It was found also on a few other verbenaceous and non-verbenaceous host species but at even lower densities. The relative rate at which Citharexylum spp. and L. urticifolia were used could not be assessed in Mexico because A. compressa was found on only one plant of each species in areas where these host species co-occurred. The low rate at which A. compressa occurred on fiddlewood in Mexico is likely to be an artefact of the short-term nature of the surveys or differences in the suites of Citharexylum and Lantana species available there. These results provide further incentive to insist on structured and quantified surveys of non-target host use in the native range of potential biological control agents prior to host testing studies in quarantine.Crown

Molecular Interrogation of the Feeding Behaviour of Field Captured Individual Insects for Interpretation of Multiple Host Plant Use

“…This is important for applied entomological research, not only in cases such as biocontrol, where the accurate establishment of host plant relationships in the field is critical (e.g. [30] ), but also in the study of agricultural pests. An insect that is sampled from a particular crop may have fed on another crop or non crop host plant prior to moving onto the crop in question, and this approach provides a means to recognise this aspect of individual insect behaviour.…”

Biodiversity, distribution, ecology and management of non-native weeds in Mexico: a review

“…As Mexico is within the area of origin for important invasive plants elsewhere, we found five publications prospecting for natural enemies of invasive species mainly in Australia: Sida acuta Burm. f. and Sida rhombifolia L. (Gillett, Harley, Kassulke, & Miranda, 1991); Mimosa pigra L. (Heard et al, 2010;Heard, Mira, Fichera, & Segura, 2012); Parkinsonia aculeata L. (Brown, Segura, Santiago-Jiménez, Rota, & Heard, 2011); Lantana camara L. (Manners, Palmer, Burgos, McCarthy, & Walter, 2011) and Jatropha gossypiifolia L. (Heard, Dhileepan, Bebawi, Bell, & Segura, 2012). In adition, a neotropical nematode was detected as a promising biocontrol against native Melastomataceae: Clidemia hirta (L.) D.Don, Miconia calvescens DC., and Tibouchina herbacea (DC.)…”

Behavioural adaptations of the generalist herbivore Helicoverpa punctigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with respect to primary and secondary hosts

“…Secondary hosts are therefore used less often, especially when primary hosts are available. While more specialised insects also typically use plant species besides a single primary host (Wiklund 1981;Manners et al 2011), host plant acceptance by these insects presumably requires its cues to be a closer match to the primary host. Under this scenario, using a broad range of host plants does not require greater neurological processing but merely a more flexible host plant acceptance threshold.…”

“…Despite such generalists often having extremely long lists of host plant records, increasing evidence from the field shows these insects are found frequently and in high numbers on only a small minority of plant species in a host list (primary hosts). Many other host plant species (secondary hosts) are used far less often and by fewer individuals, with plant species used only sporadically termed incidental hosts (Walter and Benfield 1994;Manners et al 2011;Rafter and Walter 2020). From this perspective, primary and secondary hosts are relative categorisations (Walter and Benfield 1994), and when frequency of host use is plotted against abundance of larvae at sample sites, the points fall on a continuum, and may appear as distinct clusters (e.g.…”