Life Sciences Commons^™

Seed Predators Of Canada Milk-Vetch And Their Parasitoids, Arvid Boe, Paul J. Johnson

Native Plant Focused Publications

Canada milk-vetch (Astragalus canadensis L.), North America’s most widespread species of Astragalus, is important for herbivores and granivores in natural ecosystems but suffers heavy seed losses to bruchids and curculionids. Our objectives were: (1) compile a species inventory and describe life histories of insects associated with seed production in Canada milk-vetch, and (2) determine frequencies of pod predation and primary parasitism in Canada milk-vetch. The seed predators were Acanthoscelides perforatus (Horn) and Tychius liljebladi Blatchley. Frequency of pod predation varied between two plant populations (46 and 70%) and between A. perforatus (37 %) and T. liljebladi (21 %). The primary …