Seasonal abundances of the mamane moth, its nuclear polyhedrosis virus, and its parasites

Author:

Conant, Michael

Title:

Seasonal abundances of the mamane moth, its nuclear polyhedrosis virus, and its parasites

Year:

1975

Pages:

iii, 34 leaves

Subject:

Insect pests biological control Insects Mamane Mamane moth Moths Sophora chrysophylla Uresephita polygonalis

Summary:

The mamane moth (Uresephita polygonalis, Denis and Schiff.) is a serious pest of the mamane tree (Sophora chrysophylla, Salisb.) on the island of Hawaii. The larvae of this moth feed on mamane leaflets sometimes causing serious defoliation. Results of laboratory tests indicated that Acadia koa was not a host of the larvae. Seasonal abundance of the moth was estimated from monthly counts of eggs and larvae collected from four sampling sites and no positive correlations of population dynamics were found with rainfall, humidity, temperature and vegetative flushing of mamane. Four parasites were reared from U. polygonalis collected at the sampling site and only one of them, an incheumonid (Horogenes blackburni, Cameron), appeared to be an important parasite, although it did not occur in high enough numbers to seriously affect mamane moth populations. The nuclear polyhedrosis virus, present only at sampling site 4, was a major factor in the regulation of the U. polygonalis population. Laboratory tests indicated that larvae from all sites were highly susceptible to the virus. The virus disease plays a major role in population regulation when it reaches epizootic levels.

URL:

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/32342/

Collection:

Monographs