Herbivorous insect fauna of Invasive Vine, Kudzu, Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr. Var. Lobata (Willd.) Maesen et S. Almeida (Leguminosae), in its native range

Abstract

Kudzu, Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr. var. lobata (Willd.) Maesen et S. Almeida, is an invasive weed introduced to the United States from Japan. In Japan, we conducted an intensive search of biological control agents for kudzu in 2004 and 2005. Through field survey and literature research, we found 48 species of potential kudzu feeders, including 20 species which have not been recorded in a previous list of arthropods associated with kudzu in Japan. Of the 20 species, 3 species, Reptalus quadricinctus Matsumura, Paracardiophorus subaeneus yasudai Ohira and Jodis orientalis Wehrli, were considered as possible monophagous kudzu feeders. Numbers of common species between Japan and China, and between Kinki District, central Japan and Kagoshima City, southern Japan were 15 and 21, respectively. The small numbers of common species showed large difference of insect fauna among native range of kudzu. In our search in Kinki District, the cumulative number of species found by cumulative searching time almost reached saturation by ca. 2,000 min search. This suggests that survey over wider geographic range and/or in different design would be required for more efficiency in future surveys of potential biological control agents of kudzu in Japan.