INSECT HERBIVORES OF A BALD-CYPRESS TUPELO ECOSYSTEM

The forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hubner, and the fruit-tree leafroller, Archips argyprospila (Walker), are the two dominant insect herbivores affectinf Louisiana's forested wetlands. The lack of tree species diversity and the paucity of natural enemies has resulted in continuous epidemics of these two herbivores. The resultant effects have been severe radial-growth losses of tupelo, Nyssa aquatica L., caused by the forest tent caterpillar, and growth reduction, dieback, and scattered mortality of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum L., by a relatively new insect pest of this tree species, the fruit-tree leafroller. © 1990.