BIOLOGY and HOST SPECIFICITY of Tectococcus
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BIOLOGY AND HOST SPECIFICITY OF Tectococcus ovatus (HEMIPTERA: ERIOCOCCIDAE), A POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENT OF THE INVASIVE STRAWBERRY GUAVA, Psidium cattleianum (MYRTACEAE), IN FLORIDA By FRANCIS JAMES WESSELS IV A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by Frank J. Wessels This document is dedicated to my parents, for their support and generosity throughout my educational career. Without them, this work would not have been possible. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor Dr. James P. Cuda for his invaluable guidance and help throughout my degree program. I also thank my other committee members, Dr. Kenneth A. Langeland and Dr. William A. Overholt, for their comments and suggestions on my research and this manuscript. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................7 Psidium cattleianum Sabine .........................................................................................7 Taxonomy..............................................................................................................7 Nomenclature ........................................................................................................8 Scientific name...............................................................................................8 Common names..............................................................................................9 Morphology .........................................................................................................10 Distribution..........................................................................................................12 Native distribution........................................................................................12 Worldwide distribution ................................................................................13 Distribution in the United States ..................................................................14 Beneficial Uses....................................................................................................16 Invasive Properties ..............................................................................................17 Control Methods..................................................................................................19 Mechanical control.......................................................................................19 Chemical control ..........................................................................................20 Biological control.........................................................................................20 Tectococcus ovatus Hempel .......................................................................................23 Higher Classification...........................................................................................23 Taxonomy............................................................................................................24 Life History .........................................................................................................25 Gall description ............................................................................................25 Morphology..................................................................................................25 Biology.........................................................................................................28 Nutritional Ecology .............................................................................................28 v Recorded Host Range..........................................................................................30 3 LABORATORY BIOLOGY OF Tectococcus ovatus................................................32 Introduction.................................................................................................................32 Materials and Methods ...............................................................................................34 Results and Discussion ...............................................................................................38 Biology ................................................................................................................38 Separation of Nymphal and Adult Stages of Tectococcus ovatus.......................40 Correlation of Gall Size to Nymphal and Adult Stages of Tectococcus ovatus..42 Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................45 4 HOST SPECIFICITY OF Tectococcus ovatus...........................................................46 Introduction.................................................................................................................46 Materials and Methods ...............................................................................................49 Results.........................................................................................................................52 Discussion...................................................................................................................54 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................57 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS......................................................................58 APPENDIX A WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION OF Psidium cattleianum ......................................64 B FINAL TEST PLANT LIST FOR HOST SPECIFICITY TESTING OF Tectococcus ovatus..........................................................................................................................70 C CHANGES TO THE FINAL TEST PLANT LIST FOR HOST SPECIFICITY TESTING OF Tectococcus ovatus .............................................................................76 LIST OF REFERENCES...................................................................................................80 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................................................89 vi LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1. Potential biological control agents for strawberry guava. ..........................................22 3-1. r2 values for multiple regressions of separate leg measurements of T. ovatus vs. the gall size. ..................................................................................................................43 3-2. Mean and standard deviation of the length of the fused prothoracic trochanter/femur segment for each developmental instar. ...................................................................44 4-1. Results of T. ovatus host specificity testing. ..............................................................53 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 2-1. Morphology of P. cattleianum....................................................................................11 2-2. Native distribution of strawberry guava in southeastern Brazil .................................12 2-3. Countries where strawberry guava has been reported................................................14 2-4. Florida counties where vouchered specimens of strawberry guava were collected...16 2-5. Phylogeny proposed by Bourgoin and Campbell (2002) of the higher classification of the Hemiptera based on morphological, molecular, and fossil data. ...................24 2-6. Cross sectional view of the galls of T. ovatus A) Female B) Male ............................26 2-7. Ferris (1957) drawings of T. ovatus A) Adult female B) First instar crawler. ...........27 2-8. T. ovatus adult female A) Dorsal B) Ventral..............................................................27 2-9. Life stages of T. ovatus...............................................................................................29 3-1. Cross section depicting variation in female leaf galls of T. ovatus. ...........................36 3-2. Life stages of female T. ovatus...................................................................................39 3-3. T. ovatus adult male....................................................................................................39 3-4. Two dimensional representation of the FASTCLUS cluster analysis........................43 3-5. Linear regression analysis of the relationship between the diameter of the apical base of the plant gall and the fused prothoracic trochanter/femur length of T. ovatus. ...44 4-1. Test arena for host specificity experiments. ...............................................................51 viii Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science BIOLOGY AND HOST SPECIFICITY