Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Aphids were surveyed throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Many new species were discovered that were not previously known to occur here. New island records and new host records were also documented. A taxonommic key to all aphid species in Hawaii is being prepared for distribution. A field guide with color photographs of most aphid species is also in progress.
PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Russell Messing (PI) University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kauai Agricultural Research Center. Dr. Xingeng Wang, currently at the University of California at Riverside, kearney Research Center Dr. Edward Mondor, currently Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University. Ms. Michelle Tremblay, currently a Research Associate at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Robert Footit, Agriculture and AGri-food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Ottowa, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Keith Pike, Professor, Washington State University, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser, WA
TARGET AUDIENCES: Farmers, consumers, citizens in rural communities, USDA-APHIS and Hawaii State Dept. of Agriculture border and airport inspectors.
Impacts
Knowledge of the species of aphids that actually occur in Hawaii will contribute towards more complet understanding (and possibly mitigation) of additional invasive species; and will facilitate better integrated pest management options in both agricultural crops and natural ecosystems. Keys will enable border inspecors to better interpret intercepted the status of species. Knowledge of new natural enemies will help contribute to improved biological control.
Publications
- Messing R., Tremblay M., Mondor E., Foottit R. & Pike K. 2007. Invasive aphids attack native Hawaiian plants. Biological Invasions 9: 601 to 607.
- Messing, R. H., R. Foottit & K. Pike. 2006. New records of invasive aphids in Hawaii. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004 to 2005. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 88: 26-29.
- Mondor, E. B., M. N. Tremblay & R. H. Messing. 2007. Morphological and ecological traits promoting aphid colonization of the Hawaiian Islands. Biological Invasions 9: 87-100.
- Mondor, E. B. & R. H. Messing. 2007. Direct vs. inclusive fitness in the evolution of aphid cornicle length. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20: 807-812.
- Wang, X. G. & R. H. Messing. 2006. Potential host range of the newly introduced aphid parasitoid Aphidius transcaspicus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Hawaii. Proc. Haw. Entomol. Soc. 38: 81-86.
- Mondor, E. B., M. N. Tremblay & R. H. Messing. 2006. Extrafloral nectary production in Vicia faba is both damage and resource-dependent. Biology Letters 2: 583-585.
- Rhainds, M. & R. Messing. 2005. Spatial and temporal density dependence in a population of melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae), on established and sentinel taro plants. Applied Entomology and Zoology 40: 273-282.
- Messing, R. H. 2005. Featured Insect: Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae. American Entomologist 51: 140.
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Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06
Outputs
As aphids cause direct feeding damage and transmit plant viruses, it is important to identify the traits that have enabled these particular species to successfully colonize the archipelago. To address this question, nine morphological and ecological traits that may contribute to successful colonization were assessed for aphids present in Hawaii. As a comparative null model, we assessed the same traits for heterospecific congeners which are not present in the archipelago, but are present elsewhere in the world. Here we report that traits with higher frequencies among colonizing aphid species are: small apterae size, broad host range, anholocycly (i.e., permanent parthenogenesis), and presence in continental USA. Small aphids arriving from the mainland US and capable of feeding on numerous plant species may be intercepted less often by plant protection agents. It is also likely that asexually reproducing species are well suited to the Hawaiian subtropical climate,
thereby eliminating the need for sexual phases and egg-laying for overwintering
Impacts
By understanding the traits that enable aphids to successfully colonize remote islands, we better focus our interdiction and detection efforts to mitigate pest impact on agricultural and native plant species.
Publications
- Mondor, E. B., M. N. Tremblay & R. H. Messing. 2006. Morphological and ecological traits promoting aphid colonization of the Hawaiian Islands. Biological Invasions, online version: DOI 10.1007/s10530-006-9010-z.
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Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05
Outputs
At least 96 aphid species have been found in our surveys on one or more of the Hawaiian Islands. As aphids cause both direct feeding damage and plant virus transmission, it is of great interest to identify the traits which have enabled these particular species, and not heterospecific congeners, to invade the archipelago. Assimilating previously published data, we compiled information for both colonizing species and non-colonizing heterospecific congeners, on 9 characteristics believed to contribute to successful aphid colonization. Important traits common to invasive aphids, in decreasing importance, are: anholocycly (i.e., the ability to persist as permanently parthenogenetic populations), presence on continental North America, and small size. We suggest that cues inducing sexual morph production (e.g., decreasing temperature and increasing scotophase duration) may be dissimilar between temperate and tropical environments, making some holocyclic (i.e., sexually
reproducing) aphids unable to complete their life cycle. Further, it is likely that small aphids arriving on crops from mainland North America are intercepted less often by border inspectors, and are better able to occupy uninhabited ecological niches in the novel habitat. Plant protection efforts for the Hawaiian Islands should focus on North American shipments of plants sustaining aphid species of small adult size capable of existing as permanently asexual lineages.
Impacts
Knowledge of factors influencing aphid invasion patterns will enable us to reduce levels of invasion by targeting limited resources on the most likely pathways.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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