Leaved Cultivars of Woody Landscape Plants to the Japanese Beetle
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PEST MANAGEMENT HORTSCIENCE 37(2):362–366. 2002. purple/green leaves, whereas 25 of the 26 most resistant cultivars had completely green leaves (Spicer et al., 1995). The extent to which this Susceptibility of Purple- Versus Green- apparent color preference may apply to other woody plant species is unknown. leaved Cultivars of Woody Landscape The present study tested the hypothesis, across a range of plant genera and species, that Plants to the Japanese Beetle purple cultivars of woody landscape plants generally sustain more feeding damage from W. Jack Rowe, II1, Daniel A. Potter1,3, and Robert E. McNiel2 Japanese beetles than do green-leaved ones. We also sought to identify species and culti- University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0091 vars of purple-leaved woody plants that could Additional index words. integrated pest management, plant resistance, Prunus, Acer, Popillia be substituted for highly susceptible plant materials in areas where Japanese beetles are japonica abundant. Abstract. Twenty-six purple- or green-leaved cultivars representing 12 species of woody landscape plants were evaluated in the field for defoliation by Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica Newman) over three growing seasons. We further evaluated the hypothesis that, Materials and Methods within closely-related plants, purple cultivars generally are preferred over green ones by comparing beetles’ consumption of foliage in laboratory choice tests and their orientation Twenty-six purple- or green-leaved culti- to painted silk tree models baited with Japanese beetle lures. Cultivars of Prunus cerasifera vars (Table 1) representing 12 species of woody Ehrh. and hybrids of that species [e.g., Prunus ×cistena (Hansen) Koehne, Prunus landscape plants were evaluated in the field ×blireiana André] were more heavily damaged than nearly all other plants tested. Among for susceptibility to Japanese beetles over three maples, Acer palmatum Thunb. ‘Bloodgood’ and A. platanoides L. ‘Deborah’ and ‘Fairview’ growing seasons. Green and purple cultivars were especially susceptible. None of the cultivars of Berberis thunbergii DC, Cercis of the same species were included for com- canadensis L., Cotinus coggygria Scop., or Fagus sylvatica L. were heavily damaged, parison. Some species had cultivars with vari- regardless of foliage color. In the choice tests, purple Norway maples were preferred over able foliage color. For example, A. platanoides green ones in three of four comparisons, but preference varied within the other plant ‘Fairview’ and ‘Deborah’ have purple juve- genera. In fact, more beetles oriented to green-leaved tree models than to purple ones. Our nile foliage that changes to green as the leaves results indicate that within a genus, purple-leaved plants do not necessarily sustain more mature. In contrast, leaves of Prunus virginiana damage than green-leaved ones. Widespread use of certain purple-leaved cultivars of ‘Canada Red’ change from green to purple as generally susceptible plant species probably contributes to the perception that purple- they mature. Purple- and green-leaved culti- leaved plants, overall, are preferred. Purple-leaved cultivars of redbud, European beech, vars of Cotinus coggygria, Fagus sylvatica, smoketree, and barberry, or the purple-leaved Prunus virginiana L. ‘Canada Red’ or Berberis thunbergii, and Cercis canadensis, Malus ×hybrida Lemoine ‘Jomarie’ may be suitable substitutes for more susceptible species listed by Fleming (1972) as resistant to purple-leaved plants in landscapes where Japanese beetles are a concern. Japanese beetles, also were included. The main field site was on a Maury silt loam soil (pH 6.4) at the Univ. of Kentucky The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Rankings of various plant species as to the South Research Farm, Lexington (U.S. Dept. Newman, an introduced species, is a destruc- extent that they are fed upon by Japanese Agr. Plant Hardiness Zone 6). Plants were tive pest of nursery and landscape plants in the beetles have been compiled from general field obtained as bare-root whips or balled-and- eastern United States (Fleming, 1972; Potter observations (Fleming, 1972) or from labora- burlapped stock from Schmidt Nurseries (Bor- and Held, 2002). The adults feed on 300 tory feeding trials with leaf disks (Ladd, 1987, ing, Ore.), Snow Hill Nursery (Shelbyville, species of wild and cultivated plants, espe- 1989). Within some generally susceptible plant Ky.), and Hillenmeyer’s Nursery (Lexington, cially among the Rosaceae, Malvaceae, genera and species, certain cultivars are more Ky.). The trees and shrubs were planted in Vitaceae, Polygnoceae, Aceraceae, Ulmaceae, resistant than others. Replicated field trials or holes (45 cm diameter; 2 m spacing) augured and Salicaceae (Fleming, 1972; Ladd, 1987). laboratory assays have documented signifi- into plowed and disked soil on 27 Apr. 1993. Highly preferred hosts such as lindens (Tilia cant variation in resistance among cultivars or Plot design was a randomized complete block sp.), sassafras [Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) varieties of birch (Betula sp.), flowering with six replications. All plants were fertilized Nees.], roses (Rosa sp.), Norway maples (Acer crabapples (Malus sp.), flowering cherry with ammonium nitrate (48.8 kg N/ha) in early platanoides), and purple-leaved or cherry plum (Prunus sp.), elm (Ulmus sp.), and linden May, following leaf flush. The field was tilled (Prunus cerasifera) often are severely defoli- (Tilia sp.) (Fulcher et al., 1998; Miller and as necessary to control weeds. ated. The greatest damage results from the Ware, 1999; Miller et al., 1999; Patton et al., Field ratings. Three independent observ- beetles’ tendency to aggregate on individual 1997; Potter et al., 1998; Ranney and ers visually rated each tree or shrub for Japa- plants, a response mediated by attraction to Walgenbach, 1992; Spicer et al., 1995). Sig- nese beetle feeding damage in early August, feeding-induced plant volatiles (Loughrin et nificant resistance has not, however, been found soon after peak beetle flight, in 1993, 1994, al., 1995, 1996). in common garden roses (Potter et al., 1998). and 1995. Estimates of defoliation (nearest We have observed that certain landscape 10%) were averaged among observers to pro- Received for publication 7 May 2001. Accepted for plants having deep red or purplish foliage, vide a single value for each plant. Percentages publication 17 Oct. 2001. This is paper number 01- e.g., ‘Crimson King’ Norway maple, purple- were adjusted using an arcsine square root 08-62 of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment leaved plums, purple sand cherry (Prunus transformation (Steel and Torrie, 1980), then Station, Lexington. Research supported in part by ×cistena), and ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple differences among species or cultivars were USDA–SRIPM grants 94-34103-0185 and 96- (Acer palmatum), seem to be especially sus- evaluated by two-way analysis of variance 34103-3346, and by a grant from the Horticultural ceptible to Japanese beetles. In field evalua- (ANOVA) using Statistix for Windows (Ana- Research Institute. The authors thank P.G. Spicer tions of 42 flowering crabapple cultivars, Spicer lytical Software 1996). and D.W. Held for technical assistance. et al. (1995) found that purple-leaved variet- Instead of comparing all possible combi- 1Dept. of Entomology, S-225 Agric. Sci. Bldg. N., Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546. ies, and those with purplish juvenile foliage nations of means, the hypothesis that purple- 2Dept. of Horticulture, N-318 Agric. Sci. Bldg. N., that becomes green when mature, tended to be leaved cultivars sustained more damage than Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546. fed upon more heavily than were cultivars green-leaved ones was tested within selected 3To whom reprint requests should be addressed with completely green leaves. Indeed, eight of species. Dunnett’s test (Steel and Torrie, 1980), ([email protected]). the 10 most susceptible cultivars had purple or which compares treatment means vs. a stan- 362 HORTSCIENCE, VOL. 37(2), APRIL 2002 p362-366 362 3/26/02, 2:02 AM Table 1. Species and cultivars of woody landscape plants with green or purple foliage that were evaluated purchased from a local retailer. The artificial for susceptibility to defoliation by the Japanese beetle. trees were set in concrete in 1.4-L black plastic Species/cultivar Foliage colorz Common or trade name pots. Fresh, fully expanded flowering crabapple Acer palmatum Green Japanese maple leaves (Malus sp.) were harvested from Acer palmatum Atropurpureum Purple Purple Japanese maple ‘David’, a green-leaved cultivar, or ‘Royalty’, Acer palmatum Bloodgood Purple Bloodgood Japanese maple a highly susceptible purple-leaved cultivar Acer platanoides Cleveland Green Cleveland Norway maple (Spicer et al., 1995). The leaves were scanned Acer platanoides Crimson King Purple Crimson King Norway maple under daylight with a MacBeth Color-I elec- Acer platanoides Crimson Sentry Purple Crimson Sentry Norway maple tronic spectrophotometer (Kollmorgen Corp., Acer platanoides Deborah Purple/green Deborah Norway maple Newburg, N.Y.), then oil-based enamel paints Acer platanoides L. Fairview Purple/green Fairview Norway maple (Porter Paints, Lexington, Ky.) were mixed to Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea Purple Purple Japanese barberry match the spectral reflectance of the green or Berberis thunbergii Crimson Pygmy Purple Crimson Pygmy Japanese barberry Berberis thunbergii Kobold Green Kobold Japanese barberry purple cultivars. These were used to paint