Responses of cactus insects to burned and unburned pricklypear, Opuntia polyacantha Haworth

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dc.creatorSickerman, Stephen L.
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-14T23:15:43Z
dc.date.available2011-02-18T20:19:06Z
dc.date.available2016-11-14T23:15:43Z
dc.date.issued1982-12
dc.degree.departmentEntomologyen_US
dc.description.abstractPrescribed burning to control plains pricklypear, Opuntia polyacantha (Cactaceae), has revealed an association between insects and burned cactus. Field populations of two principal cactus-insect species, Chelinidea vittiger (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and Olycella subumbrella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), were monitored after a prescribed burn on Griffis Ranch, Garza County, Texas, in spring of 1981. Densities of both insects were significantly greater in the burned field than in an adjacent unburned field, during much of the first post-burn season. Populations of other important cactus-insect species were also greater for the burned treatment. In the laboratory, Dactylopius confusus (Homoptera: Dactylopiidae) and £. vittiger exhibited feeding preferences for burned pads, and the latter species also showed a preference for burned pads as mating and resting sites. These results suggest that insects, in combination with prescribed fire, may be an effective control measure against pricklypear cactus.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2346/13515en_US
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherTexas Tech Universityen_US
dc.rights.availabilityUnrestricted.
dc.subjectInsect populations -- Texas -- Garza Countyen_US
dc.subjectPrescribed burning -- Texas -- Garza Countyen_US
dc.subjectPrickly pears -- Biological controlen_US
dc.subjectPrickly pears -- Controlen_US
dc.titleResponses of cactus insects to burned and unburned pricklypear, Opuntia polyacantha Haworth
dc.typeThesis

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