Abstract
Herbivory by leafmining insects is notoriously difficult to manipulate for ecological studies because eggs and larvae generally cannot be moved easily among plants without damaging plant tissue and killing larvae. We report on the effectiveness of stem implants of acephate (O,S dimethyl acetylphosphoramidothioate)for protecting turkey oak, Quercus laevis Walter,foliage from leafminer, Brachys tesselatus F., herbivory. Implanting acephate capsules into the stem of turkey oak trees before budbreak significantly reduced overall leafminer damage (both adult foliage feeding and larval mining) without any evident negative effects on tree acorn production (number and weight of acorns). This technique is currently being used to examine long–term costs of leafminer herbivory on growth and reproduction of turkey oak. It is likely that a similar approach can be used to manipulate leafminer densities for ecological studies on other tree species, as has been shown for herbivores on conifers and numerous crop species.
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