Phytophagous Insects Reported from Cultivated and Weedy Varieties of the Sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., in North America

Abstract

This literature review was completed in 1979 as an outgrowth of previous studies by Goeden and Ricker (1974a, 1974b, 1975, 1976a, 1976b, 1976c) on the insect ecology of ragweeds ( Ambrosia spp.) in southern California. In evaluating native ragweed insects as candidate agents for biological weed control in eastern North America (Harris and Piper 1970, Goeden and Ricker 1976c) and the U.S.S.R. (Gilstrap and Goeden 1974, Goeden et al. 1974), their safety for the closely related, cultivated sunflower, Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus (Decandolle) Cockerell, has been a prime concern. Accordingly, we reviewed the literature on H. annuus insects in North America as one means of determining the host specificities of ragweed insects (ZwoIfer and Harris 1971). We also surveyed the phytophagous insects associated with the wild sunflower, H. annuus var. lenticularis (Douglas) Cockerell, in southern California, viewing this region as a large, natural arena within which the specificities of ragweed insects for the introduced wild sunflower were bioassayed. Results of the latter faunistic survey will be published elsewhere.