PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 87(2), 1985, pp. 356-370 THE INSECT FAUNA OF NINEBARK, PHYSOCARPUS OPULIFOLIUS (ROSACEAE) A. G. Wheeler, Jr. and E. Rk hard Hoebeke (AGW) Bureau of Plant Industry, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 171 10; (ERH) Department of Entomology, Cornell Uni-versity, Ithaca, New York 14853. Abstract —Tht insect fauna of ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius (L.) Maxim., a primitive rosaceous shrub, was studied in New York and Pennsylvania during 1 978-84. Notes on phenology and habits and published records from Physocarpus are given for the specialist herbivores, for species that are potential specialists pending collection of additional data, and for those that appear to include ninebark as a preferred host. The specialists discussed are the mirids Plagiognathus punc-tatipes Knight and Psallus physocarpi Henry, the aphids Utaniphorophora hiini-boldti Essig and Aphis neilliae Oestlund, the chrysomelid Calllgrapha spiraeae (Say), the geometrids Eiilithis inolliculata (Walker) and Itame abruptata (Walker), the tortricid Ancylis spiraeifoliana (Clemens), and the torymids Megastiginus gahani Milliron and M. physocarpi Crosby. Listed in tabular form are phytoph-agous insects associated with ninebark, including a separate list of species that visited inflorescences for nectar or pollen; predators and any associated prey species; and parasites reared from the plant and their hosts, if known. We became interested in the insect fauna of ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius (L.) Maxim., in 1977 when our attention was called to an outbreak of the chrys-omelid Calllgrapha spiraeae (Say) in an ornamental planting of this rosaceous shrub. In studying the life history of C spiraeae (Wheeler and Hoebeke, 1979) we realized that ninebark, a primitive member of the Rosaceae, harbored a diverse insect fauna that included several host-specific, poorly known species. McGuffin (1977) mentioned ninebark as a plant neglected in surveys of Lepidoptera and as the apparent sole host of two geometrids, Eulithis molliculata (Walker) and Itame abruptata (Walker). Several other insects have been recorded from the plant, including two species that may cause significant injury. At Oak Park, Illinois, in 1909, Aphis neilliae Oestlund "became so abundant that the leaves were badly curled and the shoots stunted or even killed" (Davis, 1910). The buprestid Dicerca pugionata (Germar) develops in living stems of ninebark and may kill its host (Knull, 1925). We report here the results of a qualitative survey of ninebark insects conducted in New York and Pennsylvania during 1978-84. The Host Plant Physocarpus opulifolius originally was placed in the genus Spiraea; hence, the epithet spiraeae applied by Say ( 1 826) in describing a new species of Calllgrapha associated with ninebark. The plant's common name is derived either from its
BioStor
