Conant, Patrick

Hirayama, Clyde

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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PRoc. HAWAIIAN Elfl'OMOL Soc. (2001) 35:147 SCIENTIFIC NOTE A New Host Record for Lius poseidon Napp (Coleoptera:Buprestidae) Patrick Conant and Clyde Hirayama Hawaii Department of Agriculture. PPC Branch, 16 E. Lanikaula St., Hilo, HI 96720, USA 147 Abstract. Liu.f po.feidon Napp wa.~ first relea.~ed in Hawaii by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) in 1988 for control of the weed Clidemia Jrirta (Mela.~tomataceae).lt has now been found to reproduce also on 1ibouchinc1 herbacetl (Melastomataceae) in the wild where the two host plants are sympatric on the island of Hawaii. Both plants are on the official HDOA noxious weed list. Observations of larval mines of Lius poseidon Napp on 1iboucllina llerbacea (DC) Cogn. were first observed in the field by Clinton Campbell, formerly of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), in 1990 on the island of Hawaii (C. Campbell, pers. comm.). How-ever, he did not determine that the beetle could complete its life cycle on this host. This beetle was first released in Hawaii in 1988 as part of an ongoing classical biological control program for Clidemia llirta (L.) D. Don (Melastomataceae), also known as Koster's curse (Conant 1992). Smith (1992) gives a thorough account of the invasiveness of this weed in Hawaiian forests. Lius poseidon is now established on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and possibly Kauai. On February I, 1998, larval mines of L poseidon were observed on the leaves of Tiboucllina llerbacea along Stainback Highway, in the Puna District, at 380 m elevation. This site is ncar the original release site of this beetle for the island of Hawaii. A total of 139 leaves with visible mines were collected along Stainback Highway on February 11, 1998, and taken into the laboratory to rear out adult L poseidon. Results indicated that this plant is a true host of this beetle as demonstrated by the emergence of 49 adults from the mines. All the adults appeared normal in size. It is noteworthy that T. llerbacea leaves are smaller than those of C. llirta so the blotch mines created by the beetle on T. llerbacea prior to pupation appear to damage a larger proportion of the leaf. Former HDOA exploratory entomologist Robert Burkhart performed exhaustive host specificity tests with L. poseidon in Trinidad, West Indies in 1984-1985 and found larval mines in the field on only three genera of melastomes: Clidemia, Miconia, and Leandra. He did not include any species in the genus Tiboucllina in those tests. According toW. Judd of the University of Florida (pcrs. comm.), only one species in this genus, T. longifolia (Vahl) Baill. ex Cogn., is known to occur in Trinidad. This new host record is a fortuitous discovery because T. llerbacea is a plant species that is designated as a noxious weed for eradication or control by the HDOA, as is C. llirta. Both belong to the family Melastomataceae, which has no native species represented in Hawaii and virtually all of the introduced species have naturalized to some extent. Some of these arc Hawaii's worst forest weeds. Literature Cited Conant. P. 1992. Notes and exhibitions. Proc. Hawaii. Entomol. Soc. 31:2. Smith, C.W. 1992. Distribution. status, phenology. rate of spread. and management of clidemia in Hawaii. pp. 241-253. It! C.P. Stone. C.W. Smith, and J.T. Tunison (eds.), Alien plant inva~ions in native ecosystems of Hawai'i: management and rescareh. Univ. of Hawaii, Coop. Natl. Park Resour. Stud. Unit, Honolulu. 

A new host record for Lius poseidon Napp (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

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A new host record for Lius poseidon Napp (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

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