ARS | Publication request: Performance of Oriental Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on Woody Nursery Crops

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: July 23, 2009
Publication Date: December 13, 2009
Citation: Reding, M.E., Ranger, C.M. 2009. Performance of Oriental Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on Woody Nursery Crops. Entomological Society of America Proceedings.

Technical Abstract: The oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis, is a serious pest of ornamental nursery crops. Despite the damage caused by this pest, there has been almost no research on interactions of the larvae (damaging stage) and its hosts. Survival and development of A. orientalis larvae was evaluated on six species of woody nursery crops. Plants were infested with A. orientalis eggs by mid-July, then survival and development were compared among host species in fall and the following spring. Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and birch (Betula nigra) were the best hosts for A. orientalis larvae with an average survival of 42% and 38% in fall, respectively. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), red maple (Acer rubrum), and serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) were intermediate as hosts with survival of 19% to 28% while kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) was relatively resistant (< 4% survival). Development was more advanced in blueberry and birch than kousa dogwood. Mortality of A. orientalis larvae over winter was higher in kousa dogwood than blueberry, birch, and serviceberry. These results document differential survival and development of A. orientalis larvae in woody hosts. This information will help growers in making decisions on the need to protect plants from attack by A. orientalis larvae. Poor hosts such as kousa dogwood should not need protection from attack by A. orientalis larvae. Research testing species as hosts for A. orientalis larvae is ongoing.