Rapid population growth and food-plant exploitation pattern in an exotic leaf beetle, Ophraella communa LeSage (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae), in western Japan.

Seasonal abundance of exotic leaf beetle Orphraella communa LeSage (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on two different host plants

“…This may cause the seasonal difference in trends in pupation sites of O. communa on the two host plants. A difference in leaf area or in feeding stimulant activity between A. artemisiifolia and A. trifida may be related to the beetles' preference for A. artemisiifolia than A. trifida (Yamazaki et al, 2000;Tamura et al, 2004). Yamazaki et al (2000) reported more severe feeding damage by O. communa on A. artemisiifolia than A. trifida in September and October, consistent with the present result.…”

“…A. artemisiifolia and A. psilostachya are host plants of the ragweed beetle Ophraella communa in North America, the original distribution area (Futuyma, 1990;Palmer and Goeden, 1991;Funk and Futuyma, 1995), but there are no reports of the ragweed beetle using A. trifida as a host plant in North America. On the other hand, the ragweed beetle uses A. artemisiifolia and A. trifida in the newly-invaded East Asian areas, including Japan (Takizawa et al, 1999;Yamazaki et al, 2000;Moriya and Shiyake, 2001;Watanabe and Hirai, 2004) and China (LiJie et al, 2005). This suggests that the beetle might already have had the ability to feed on this plant species when it invaded in Japan and throughout East Asia, or suggests an adaptive change in the host use character of this beetle in recently invaded areas, namely an intriguing adaptation to a newly-invaded territory.…”

“…Several studies have been made of various aspects of the ragweed beetle's life history, such as its development (Emura, 1999;Moriya, 1999), photoperiodic response (Watanabe, 2000), host plant use (Emura, 2000;Yamazaki et al, 2000;Tamura et al, 2004), spatial interaction with the host plant (Yamanaka et al, 2007), natural enemies (Moriya et al, 2002), overwintering sites (Kawakami and Kato, 2002;Watanabe and Hirai, 2004), dispersal distance (Yamamura et al, 2007), and flight activity (Tanaka, 2009;Tanaka and Yamanaka, 2009); however, the seasonal abundance of this beetle on different host plants and/or populations, which is key basic information on adaptation in a newly invaded area, has not been studied. To date, the seasonal occurrence of O. communa on A. artemisiiforia has been roughly investigated (Yamanaka et al, 2007), but detailed investigations of seasonal abundance and a comparison of seasonal abundance on different host plants have not been reported.…”

Host-use pattern of the ragweed beetle Ophraella communa LeSage (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) for overwintering and reproduction in Tsukuba

“…In the spring, adults were also observed on these plants. Although adults have been observed feeding on X. canadense in the autumn (Emura, 1999(Emura, , 2000Takizawa et al, 1999;Yamazaki et al, 2000), it has been unknown whether adults would stay on this plant in the winter. In this study, we observed many adults of both sexes overwintering inside the rolled parts of dead leaves of X. canadense.…”

“…After leaves of A. artemisiifolia are defoliated almost completely by larvae and adults of O. communa in early autumn, the adults often feed on leaves of A. trifida and occasionally on leaves of Xanthium canadense and H. tuberosus. Seasonal migration from A. artemisiifolia to other host plants is also known in the Kansai region (Yamazaki et al, 2000). The adults enter reproductive diapause under a short day photoperiod and accumulate a large amount of triacylglycerol (TG) probably for overwintering energy fuel (Watanabe, 2000).…”