Southern Research Station

Title: The Insect Guild of White Oak Acorns: Its Effect on Mast Quality in the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests

Author: Mangini, Alex C.; Perry, Roger W.

Date: 2004

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-74. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 79-82

Description: Abstract - Hardwood regeneration, especially of oaks, is an essential component of ecosystem management in the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. In addition, oak mast is an important wildlife food. Several species of insects inhabit and consume acorns. Data on the insect guild inhabiting white oak (Quercus alba L.) acorns were collected from two undisturbed mature (control) and two single-tree selection stands in the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests from 1993-1998. Insects collected were: weevils of the genus Curculio and Conotrachelus spp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); filbertworm, Melissopus latifereanus (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae); acorn moth, Valentinia glandulella Riley (Lepidoptera: Blastobasidae), cynipid gall wasps (stone galls) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) and midge larvae (Diptera). Over the 5 years of study, sound acorns averaged 31.9 percent. Curculio weevils, with an average infestation rate of 26.6 percent, were the most abundant acorn-infesting insect. Other insect species occurred in much smaller numbers.

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Citation

Mangini, Alex C.; Perry, Roger W.  2004.  The Insect Guild of White Oak Acorns: Its Effect on Mast Quality in the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests.   Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-74. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 79-82