Weevils

From: Jason Hernandez <jason.hernandez74 at yahoo.com> on 2011.05.24 at 01:48:30(22080) Yesterday I was exploring a pond in which 100% of the surface was covered with Lemna sp. (I rarely bother to identify Lemnoidea to species). At the lower end, near the dam, there was also Wolffia sp. These two aroids formed such a solid layer that insects could treat it as dry land -- I actually watched a Pompillid wasp drag a paralyzed spider across the Lemna carpet. Looking closer, I saw that many of the Lemna fronds had circular or oval holes eaten in them. I also noticed some tiny weevils -- each one smaller than a Lemna frond -- walking about, and I presume these were the perpetrators of the herbivory. Has anyone studied these Lemna-eating weevils? This was in the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina, if that helps. Jason Hernandez HTML +More Naturalist-at-Large --0-546347442-1306201710=:1389-- --==============860207039714032163==

From: Theodore Held <oppenhauser2001 at gmail.com> on 2011.05.24 at 18:05:04(22084) Jason, and others, I have seen aphids infecting Lemna minor, but never weevils. I wonder about the nutrient content of duckweeds. Perhaps there are vitamins or soluble sugars in Lemna tissue. If weevils and aphids like them it could mean that harvesting these abundant plants could provide food for herbivores. It would be sort of like a solar power gathering device. Do others have any ideas? Ted Held. +More On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 9:48 PM, Jason Hernandez wrote: > > Yesterday I was exploring a pond in which 100% of the surface was covered > with Lemna sp.(I rarely bother to identify Lemnoidea to species). A t the > lower end, near the dam, there was also Wolffia sp. These two aroids f ormed > such a solid layer that insects could treat it as dry land -- I actually > watched a Pompillid wasp drag a paralyzed spider across the Lemna carpet. > Looking closer, I saw that many of the Lemna fronds had circular or oval > holes eaten in them. I also noticed some tiny weevils -- each one smal ler > than a Lemna frond -- walking about, and I presume these were the > perpetrators of the herbivory. Has anyone studied these Lemna-eating > weevils? This was in the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina, if that > helps. > > Jason Hernandez > Naturalist-at-Large > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: George Yao <geoyao at gmail.com> on 2011.05.28 at 03:38:55(22086) Ted, Duck loves duckweeds and some fishes also. It is eaten in Thailand, but I think that is a Wolffia. George Yao HTML +More Metro-Manila Philippines On 05/25/11, at 2:05 AM, Theodore Held wrote: Jason, and others, I have seen aphids infecting Lemna minor, but never weevils. I wonder about the nutrient content of duckweeds. Perhaps there are vitamins or soluble sugars in Lemna tissue. If weevils and aphids like them it could mean that harvesting these abundant plants could provide food for herbivores. It would be sort of like a solar power gathering device. Do others have any ideas? Ted Held. On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 9:48 PM, Jason Hernandez wrote: Yesterday I was exploring a pond in which 100% of the surface was covered with Lemna sp. (I rarely bother to identify Lemnoidea to species). At the lower end, near the dam, there was also Wolffia sp. These two aroids formed such a solid layer that insects could treat it as dry land -- I actually watched a Pompillid wasp drag a paralyzed spider across the Lemna carpet. Looking closer, I saw that many of the Lemna fronds had circular or oval holes eaten in them. I also noticed some tiny weevils -- each one smaller than a Lemna frond -- walking about, and I presume these were the perpetrators of the herbivory. Has anyone studied these Lemna-eating weevils? This was in the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina, if that helps. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --Apple-Mail-7--318262072-- --==============I34249997687412058==

From: "Elizabeth Campbell" <desinadora at mail2designer.com> on 2011.05.29 at 16:01:51(22087) Ted and others, it's fairly common practice in Ecuador at least to scrape the Lemna and Woolfia off the surface of the ponds and mix it in with the grain fed to cattle and sheep. I've been told that it's an extremely well-balanced nutrient for ungulates, and certainly the coastal cattle (who are largely the recipients of this type of feed) are really healthy and produce immense amounts of milk on the Lemna diet.... Elizabeth (Ambato, Ecuador) HTML +More _______________________________________________________________ Get the Free email that has everyone talking at http://www.mail2world.com Unlimited Email Storage – POP3 – Calendar – SMS – Translator – Much More! ------=_NextPart_000_17F1_01CC1DDF.0C8F9270-- --==============41361317805655249==

From: Jason Hernandez <jason.hernandez74 at yahoo.com> on 2011.06.04 at 14:15:04(22089) Okay, I have looked into the Lemna weevils some more. The only information I could come up with was a European species, exotic to the United States, named Tanysphyrus lemnae. The USGS fact sheet on it was contradictory: there was a map showing the weevil in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and the text below the map described the same range; but in the next section was a reference to its occurrence in Florida on water lettuce, even though the map did not show any occurrences there. Here is the link to the USGS fact sheet: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=2363 It is also mentioned on the Aquatic Insects of Alberta website, but I found no references to its occurrence in South Carolina. I did, however, find numerous references to other weevil species that feed on aquatic ferns, Salvinia and Azolla, but these seem to be aquatic fern specialists and I would not expect to see them on Lemna. How should I proceed? Jason Hernandez HTML +More Naturalist-at-Large --0-221090310-1307196904=:44563-- --==============ƒ65501207272858699==

From: "Elizabeth Campbell" <desinadora at mail2designer.com> on 2011.06.05 at 17:21:03(22090) Well, you've got a name, and presumably you've seen the weevils as well. Try www.bugguide.net and search using the latin name - if they're present anywhere in the US, that site will have a more reliable distribution map for them. They'll also have comments from various amateur and professional entomologists as to diet etc. And if all that fails, you can send an email to the site's owners, who are pro entomologists and will likely be able to point you in the right direction. You can also email them to ask about aquatic/semiaquatic domestic weevils with a prediliction for Lemna. Best of luck! Elizabeth (Ambato, Ecuador - incidentally, we have weevils in the Lemna here too.) >Message: 1 HTML +More >Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2011 07:15:04 -0700 (PDT) >From: Jason Hernandez >Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Weevils >To: "aroid-l@gizmoworks.com" >Message-ID: >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > >Okay, I have looked into the Lemna weevils some more.? The only information I could come up with was a >European species, exotic to the United States, named Tanysphyrus lemnae.? The USGS fact sheet on it was >contradictory: there was a map showing the weevil in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and the text >below the map described the same range; but in the next section was a reference to its occurrence in >Florida on water lettuce, even though the map did not show any occurrences there.? Here is the link to the >USGS fact sheet: >? >http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID#63 >? >It is also mentioned on the Aquatic Insects of Alberta website, but I found?no references to its occurrence >in South Carolina.? I did, however, find numerous references to other weevil species that feed on aquatic >ferns, Salvinia and Azolla, but these seem to be aquatic fern specialists and I would not expect to see them >on Lemna. >? >How should I proceed? >? >Jason Hernandez >? >Naturalist-at-Large >-------------- next part -------------- >An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid- >l/attachments/20110604/905c99d8/attachment.html > >------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Aroid-L mailing list >Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > >End of Aroid-L Digest, Vol 83, Issue 2 >************************************** >. > _______________________________________________________________ Get the Free email that has everyone talking at http://www.mail2world.com Unlimited Email Storage – POP3 – Calendar – SMS – Translator – Much More! ------=_NextPart_000_1E6D_01CC236A.46438F40-- --==============@39994578452053274==

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