Abstract
The pyralid Dicymolomia julianalis (Walker) has an unusually diverse range of hosts. In this study, the life cycle, feeding habits, and biological control potential of D. julianalis were evaluated on 3 hosts (musk thistle, Carduus nutans L. ssp. leiophyllus (Petrovic) Stojanov & Stefanoff; the common bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth); and cattail, Typha spp.) at 3 sites in eastern and middle Tennessee. During this 2-yr study, 3 generations per year of D. julianalis were inferred. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (overwintering) generations occurred on cattail, dead or dying musk thistle, and within bagworm egg clusters, respectively. Second-generation individuals also were reared from cattail. Of these 3 hosts, cattail is believed to be the primary host of D. julianalis throughout the year in Tennessee. Infestation levels, averaged across all sites, were 11.6, 14.2, and 95.0% on musk thistle, bagworm, and cattail, respectively. Larvae of D.julianalis may simply feed as scavengers within seed heads of musk thistle and have limited effect on seed production and survival of musk thistle. However, D. julianalis may have potential as a biological control agent of bagworm.
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