Abstract
Lygodium microphyllum (Lygodiaceae) is an invasive climbing fern in peninsular Florida. Two classical biological control agents are currently being released against L. microphyllum: a leaf galling mite, Floracarus perrepae (Acariformes: Eriophyidae), and a moth, Neomusotima conspurcatalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Little is known about how the two species interact in the field; thus we conducted oviposition choice tests to determine the effects of F. perrepae presence on oviposition behavior in N. conspurcatalis. Further, we conducted feeding trials with N. conspurcatalis larvae to establish the effects of gall presence on larval survival and rate of development, and determine whether N. conspurcatalis larvae would directly consume F. perrepae galls. Neomusotima conspurcatalis laid significantly more eggs on mite galled (52.66 ± 6.211) versus ungalled (34.40 ± 5.587) L. microphyllum foliage. Feeding trials revealed higher mortality in N. conspurcatalis larvae raised on galled (60%) versus ungalled (36%) L. microphyllum material. In gall feeding trials, N. conspurcatalis larvae consumed or damaged 13.52% of galls, and the rate of direct gall feeding increased over time as leaf resources were depleted. Our results suggest that, where N. conspurcatalis and F. perrepae co-occur, competitive interactions could be more frequent than previously anticipated; however, we do not expect these antagonistic interactions to affect the establishment of either agent.
Highlights
Lygodium microphyllum (Cavanilles) R Brown (Lygodiaceae), Old World climbing fern, is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and Australasia and is an invasive fern in peninsular Florida [1].First cultivated in the U.S as an ornamental plant, the species was reported as naturalized in Florida in 1965 [2,3]
All experiments were conducted using L. microphyllum grown in a shade house, in order to maintain consistent plant quality, and to ensure that all galling came from the same population of F. perrepae
The mean number of egg clusters laid by female Neomusotima conspurcatalis conspurcataliswas wasnot notsignificantly significantlydifferent differentbetween betweengalled galledand andungalled ungalledLygodium
Summary
Lygodium microphyllum (Cavanilles) R Brown (Lygodiaceae), Old World climbing fern, is native to tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and Australasia and is an invasive fern in peninsular Florida [1]. First cultivated in the U.S as an ornamental plant, the species was reported as naturalized in Florida in 1965 [2,3]. Lygodium microphyllum is widespread in wet and mesic environments throughout south and central Florida, covering nearly 800,000 ha [4,5,8]. Conventional weed control methods like mechanical removal or the use of herbicides are expensive, damage non-target plants, do not offer a sustainable solution for the control of L. microphyllum, and can be challenging to apply to remote infestations [10]
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