Predispersal Seed Predation of a Native Thistle, Cirsium canescens1
- 1 August 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Environmental Entomology
- Vol. 11 (4) , 847-851
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/11.4.847
Abstract
Predispersal seed predation of the native Platte thistle, Cirsium canescens Nutt. (Compositae), by Paracantha culta (Wiedemann), Orellia occidentalis (Snow) (both Diptera: Tephritidae), and Homoeosoma stypticellum Grote (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), was quantified and compared with other causes of seed mortality at three Nebraska sites. Damage to capitulae ranged from 16 to 25%; however, biotic agents damaged only 1 to 7% of the developing capitulae. Although non-biotic agents damaged 18 to 31% of the developing seeds, the three insect species damaged at least 21 to 54% of the seeds. The predominant insect species varied between sites. Only 9 to 24% of the total number of developing seeds per plant matured. Seed predation of the Platte thistle is expected to reduce its colonization of new habitats and its subsequent population growth.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Phytophagous Insects Collected on Musk Thistle, Carduus nutans , in Southeastern South Dakota 1Environmental Entomology, 1976