University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Master's Theses University of Connecticut Graduate School 1-29-2015 Host Plant Feeding Preferences of the Adult Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera castanea Arrow (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae) Laura E. Eckman University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Recommended Citation Eckman, Laura E., "Host Plant Feeding Preferences of the Adult Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera castanea Arrow (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae)" (2015). Master's Theses. 714. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/gs_theses/714 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Connecticut Graduate School at OpenCommons@UConn. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenCommons@UConn. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Host Plant Feeding Preferences of the Adult Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera castanea Arrow (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Laura Eliana Eckman B.S., Trinity College, 2009 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science At the University of Connecticut 2015 APPROVAL PAGE Master of Science Thesis Host Plant Feeding Preferences of the Adult Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera castanea Arrow (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Presented by Laura Eliana Eckman, B.S. Major Advisor________________________________________________________________ Ana Legrand Associate Advisor_____________________________________________________________ Karl Guillard Associate Advisor_____________________________________________________________ Julia Kuzovkina University of Connecticut 2015 ii Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people: my major advisor, Dr. Ana Legrand, for guidance, inspiration, and support throughout my research endeavors; my associate advisor Dr. Karl Guillard for continued guidance with statistical analyses; and my associate advisor Dr. Julia Kuzovkina for guidance in choosing relevant plants for this study. I would also like to thank Dr. Ming-Hui Chen and Hee-Koung Joeng for assistance with statistical analyses, Dr. Mark Brand for assistance in locating landscape plants on campus, and Jason Bennett and Andrew Hirsbrunner for general assistance. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the University of Connecticut farm staff, particularly Steve Olsen, Todd Wright, Kyle Knox, and Geoffrey Vose, and the UConn greenhouse staff, particularly Nick Pettit, Bob Shabot, and Chris Claussen. I would also like to thank the various other people who have helped me with any aspect of my research, from purchasing supplies to pondering results. Every small contribution of time, effort, or interest has helped me to reach my goal of producing this thesis. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the generous funding provided by the USDA National Needs Fellowship. iii Table of Contents Cover page ....................................................................................................................................... i Approval page ................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Table of contents ............................................................................................................................ iv List of tables ................................................................................................................................... vi List of figures ................................................................................................................................ vii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 The Asiatic garden beetle .....................................................................................................1 Distribution in the United States ..........................................................................................2 Life cycle .............................................................................................................................4 Asiatic garden beetle management ......................................................................................7 Rationale for Asiatic garden beetle feeding preference studies .........................................11 Objectives ..........................................................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Field evaluation of adult Asiatic garden beetle plant preferences and seasonal occurrence .....................................................................................................................................17 Introduction ........................................................................................................................17 Materials and methods .......................................................................................................18 Common garden field count experiment ................................................................18 iv Asiatic garden beetle seasonal activity ..................................................................24 Results ................................................................................................................................25 Common garden field count experiment ................................................................25 Asiatic garden beetle seasonal activity ..................................................................29 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................30 Chapter 3: No-choice laboratory feeding study for the adult Asiatic garden beetle .............38 Introduction ........................................................................................................................38 Materials and methods .......................................................................................................40 Results ................................................................................................................................47 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................56 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................71 Appendix A: Food plants of the adult Asiatic garden beetle .........................................................76 References ......................................................................................................................................79 v List of Tables Table 1: States in which the Asiatic garden beetle is found. ........................................................3 Table 2: Cultivars used in the common garden field count experiment .....................................21 Table 3: Plants used in the no-choice laboratory experiment .....................................................41 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Distribution of the Asiatic garden beetle in the United States ......................................4 Figure 2: Adult Asiatic garden beetle ...........................................................................................7 Figure 3: Setup of one block in the common garden field count experiment .............................20 Figure 4: Newly transplanted cultivars in Block 1 in 2012 ........................................................20 Figure 5: Black light traps...........................................................................................................25 Figure 6: Common garden field count results at the cultivar level showing number of Asiatic garden beetles per plant in 2011 .................................................................................................26 Figure 7: Common garden field count results at the crop level showing number of Asiatic garden beetles per plant in 2011 .................................................................................................27 Figure 8: Common garden field count results at the cultivar level showing number of Asiatic garden beetles per plant in 2012 .................................................................................................28 Figure 9: Common garden field count results at the crop level showing number of Asiatic garden beetles per plant in 2012 .................................................................................................29 Figure 10: Cumulative number of Asiatic garden beetle adults caught during the 2011 and 2012 field seasons ................................................................................................................................30 Figure 11: Experimental setup for no-choice laboratory feeding study in 2012 ........................44 Figure 12: Scanned images of experimental leaf circles before and after trial period ...............45 Figure 13: No-choice laboratory feeding test results for edible plants at the cultivar level showing mass of leaf circles consumed by Asiatic garden beetles in 2011................................47 vii Figure 14: No-choice laboratory feeding test