Project Number: WVA00387
CRIS Number: 0172811
ECOLOGY OF FOREST ARTHROPODS AND THEIR RESPONSE TO FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Investigators: Butler, L.
Performing Department: Plant & Soil Sciences -- 1825
Start Date: 10/01/2000
Termination Date: 09/30/2005
Reporting period: 01/01/2001 to 12/31/2001
Progress Report:
The final year of the 7 year field study was completed. This was the third post-treatment year evaluating nontarget impacts of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)on arthropods on 200 hectare oak-dominated plots in the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests. Sampling methods used in 2001 included blacklight traps, pitfall traps, Malaise traps, tree bands, and foliage pruning. This year we documented 5 additional species of Lepidoptera (giving 605), and 3 new spider species (235). We identified 100 species of Syrphidae and 155 species of Symphyta sawflies from Malaise traps. Sixty previously unreported associations between parasitic Tachinidae and their Lepidoptera hosts were determined, including 8 new native host associations for the exotic Compsilura concinnata. Studies were completed on associations of ants and carabid beetles with habitat characteristics of vegetation, soil, and weather. Neither group was found to be affected by Bt application. Vegetation surveys were completed on all plots for all woody plants and Fall flowering herbaceous plants. In 2001, gypsy moth larval numbers under bands was higher on both forests than in 2000. Incidence of infection by Entomophaga maimaiga increased accordingly.
Publications:
Wang, C., J. Strazanac, and L. Butler. 2001. A comparison of pitfall traps with bait traps for studying leaf litter ant communities. J. Econ. Entomol. 94: 761-765.
Butler, L., V. Kondo, and J. Strazanac. 2001. Light trap catches of Lepidoptera in two central Appalachian forests. Proc. Washington Entomol.Soc. 103: 879-902.
Wang, C., J. S. Strazanac, and L. Butler. 2001. Association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)and habitat characteristics in oak-dominated mixed forests. Environ. Entomol. 30: 842-848.
Strazanac, J.S., C.D. Plaugher, T.R. Petrice, and L. Butler. 2001. New Tachinidae (Diptera) host records of Eastern North American forest canopy Lepidoptera: baseline data in a Bacillus thuriengiensis var. kurstaki nontarget study. J. Econ. Entomol. 94: 1128-1134.
Impact:
We are determining the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis on nontarget Lepidoptera and their predators and parasitoids in the Central Appalachians. We are relating gypsy moth population levels to abundance of Entomophaga maimaiga resting spores and incidence of fungal infection.