Author(s)

Yanfen Niu¹, Tingfa Dong², Jiangbo He¹, Yangping Li³, Zhiyang Miao¹, Jing Xi¹, Shaoxiang Li¹, Tao Wang¹, Hao Yue¹, Genshen Yin^1*

¹College of Agronomy and Life Sciences, Kunming University, Kunming, China.
²Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (China West Normal University), Ministry of Education, Nanchong, China.
³Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.

Natural enemy insects are important factors in regulating plant invasion. The interactions between multiple insect species resulting from invasive plants remain poorly understood despite their potential. We observed notorious invasive plants Eupatorium adenophorum Sprengel were competedly fed by Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Dorylus orientalis Westwood (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) beside the scientific research base of Kunming University. It was first observed that D. orientalis was eating the epidermis, cortex, phloem and other root and stem tissues of E. adenophorum in soil. Two months later, it was observed that S. invicta ate the epidermis, cortex, phloem and other aboveground stem tissues of E. adenophorum. S. invicta attacked D. orientalis and displaced their living space by causing the later dead, injured, or even disabled. This phenomenon suggested that local herbivorous insects have adapted to E. adenophorum well, which will intensify the naturalization process of E. adenophorum in local habitats. In a homogeneous garden planting experiment of E. adenophorum conducted at the experimental base of Kunming University, the biomass of the introduced (China) populations of E. adenophorum was lower than that of the native (Mexico) populations, although there was no statistically significant difference. These results indicate a possible positive correlation between the increase in natural enemy pressure and the decrease in fitness of E. adenophorum.

Eupatorium adenophorum Sprengel, Solenopsis invicta Buren, Dorylus orientalis Westwood, Natural Enemy

Niu, Y. , Dong, T. , He, J. , Li, Y. , Miao, Z. , Xi, J. , Li, S. , Wang, T. , Yue, H. and Yin, G. (2023) New Evidence for the Hypothesis of Reducing Natural Enemy Pressure of Eupatorium adenophorum: Solenopsis invicta Competing with Doxrylus orientalis to Feed on E. adenophorum. Open Journal of Ecology, 13, 773-781. doi: 10.4236/oje.2023.1311047.