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Bucculatrix Ainsliella

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Introduction Bucculatrix ainsliella Murtfeldt is a skeletonizing species of Lepidoptera that can cause excessive damage to both forest and urban environments. Causal Agent The Oak Leaf Skeletonizer, Bucculatrix ainsliella is in the order Lepidoptera, which categorizes it as a defoliator in its larval stages (Gelok et al. 1998; Klass 1985; Van Nieukerken et al. 2012). It is a native species to Eastern United States and was once limited to Southern Canada and the Eastern coast of the United States to Mississippi (Baker 1972; Frank and Foltz 1997; Gelok et al. 1998). Since 1905, it is now found throughout Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany (Murtfeldt 1905; Van Nieukerken et al. 2012). Bucculatrix ainsliella is a foliage-feeding lepidopteran species that causes defoliation on oak trees, specifically red (Quercus rubra) and black (Quercus velutina) oaks. The first instar larval stage are leafminers, which burrow into the leaf and consume the nutrients between the layers of the leaf. Once they progress into the final instar larval stage they start to defoliate the trees. This stage of Bucculatrix ainsliella consume the external underside of the leaf, leaving the veins, which causes the leaves of the oaks to become less efficient in producing photosynthate (Baker 1972; Gelok et al. 1998; Klass 1985; Van Nieukerken et al. 2012). At the end of the final instar larval stage, they build 3 millimeter …show more content…

In forest ecosystems, heavy defoliation occurs occasionally when populations of the species are high and parasitoids are low (Klass 1985; Van Nieukerken et al. 2012). The crowns of oak trees (mainly Quercus rubra and Q. velutina) can experience thinning and die back due to the loss of structure to the leaves (Gelok et al. 1998; Klass 1985; Van Nieukerken et al. 2012). Spread and

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