SUPPRESSION OF LEAFMINER (COLEOPTERA, BUPRESTIDAE) POPULATIONS OIL TURKEY OAK (FAGACEAE) USING IMPLANTS OF ACEPHATE

Herbivory by leafmining insects is notoriously difficult to manipulate for ecological studies because eggs and larvae generally cannot be mo ved easily among plants without damaging plant tissue and killing larv ae. We report on the effectiveness of stem implants of acephate (O,S d imethyl acetylphosphoramidothioate) for protecting turkey oak, Quercus laevis Waiter, foliage from leafminer, Brachys tesselatus F., herbivo ry. Implanting acephate capsules into the stem of turkey oak trees bef ore budbreak significantly reduced overall leafminer damage (both adul t foliage feeding and larval mining) without any evident negative effe cts on tree acorn production (number and weight of acorns). This techn ique is currently being used to examine long-term costs of leafminer h erbivory on growth and reproduction of turkey oak. It is likely that a similar approach can be used to manipulate leafminer densities for ec ological studies on other tree species, as has been shown for herbivor es on conifers and numerous crop species.