Abutilon menziesii, Lualualei Valley
March 6, 2012
There are two areas within the Navy Radio Telecommunications Facility and Munitions Storage Area where federally listed endangered Abutilon menziesii occur. Every month we go out and check on them, and this month they were flowering. I also noticed some interesting insect damage: feeding on the leaves, which I believe is from the Chinese Rose Beetle, Adoretus sinicus, a bore hole in a flower bud, and ants tending some kind of Homoptera (I didn’t collect any of the ants but they look like the white footed ant, Technomyrmex difficilis – not sure about the Homoptera either, at first I thought aphids but now I am thinking leafhoppers ).
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- Ants on flower bud
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- Ants tending Homoptera
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- Ants tending Homoptera
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- Ants tending Homoptera
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- Damage to flower bud
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- Leaf damage
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- Abutilon menziesii, Lualualei Valley, Oahu, Hawaii
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Entophile Shop
Good seeing you at the PEC. The leaf damage does look like Chinese rose beetle. Those white footed ants sure get around over there. Interesting about the flower bud bore hole, would be nice to know what’s doing that.
Likewise for me – in fact, you inspired me to start posting on this blog again. I’m going out again tomorrow and will be looking for more of these holes in the buds.