Sj. Scheffer, Use of sugar beet foliage by the introduced leafmining fly Amauromyza flavifrons (Diptera : Agromyzidae), J ECON ENT, 92(2), 1999, pp. 347-350
Laboratory and held experiments investigated the use of a nontraditional ho
st, Beta vulgaris L. (sugar beet), by the leafminer Amauromyza flavifrons M
eigen. In laboratory trials using leafminers from the northeastern United S
tates where sugar beets are not grown commercially; female flies readily ov
iposited on B, vulgaris even when a commonly used host, Saponaria officinal
is L., was present. However, larval mortality was significantly higher on B
. vulgaris than on S. officinalis and occurred at an earlier instar. Larval
mentality on S. officinalis was significantly correlated with the number o
f miners in each leaf, suggesting an effect of larval competition, whereas
on B, vulgaris, larval mortality was independent of the number of miners in
a leaf. Results from an experimental garden array in the northeastern Unit
ed States showed that wild, unconfined A. flavifrons females will oviposit
on B. vulgaris and confirmed substantial early larval mortality on this pla
nt. Implications of female oviposition and larval mortality on B. vulgaris
are discussed in terms of the probable spread of this ny to western sugar b
eet growing regions.