TITLE:
Six Species of Omnivorous Insects Feed on the Invasive Plant Ageratina adenophora in Kunming, Yunnan Province
AUTHORS:
Dongfu Tao, Tingfa Dong, Junyan Liu, Jiangbo He, Tiao Ning, Lu Jin, Chengchou Han, Yanfen Niu, Jing Li
KEYWORDS:
Exotic Invasive Plant, Crofton Weed (Ageratina adenophora = Eupatorium adenophorum), Generalist Natural Enemy, Insect Herbivore, Omnivorous Insect
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.17 No.5,
May
29,
2026
ABSTRACT: In order to understand the feeding pressure of omnivorous insects on Ageratina adenophora Spreng., field surveys and laboratory experiments were carried out to confirm the feeding relationship between local herbivorous insects and A. adenophora. Six species of natural enemies of A. adenophora were confirmed for the first time. They were Uroleucon gobonis Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Atractomorpha lata Motschoulsky (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae), Ourapteryx yerburii virescens Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), Sclerogenia jessica Butler (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Argyrogramma agnata Staudinger (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). S. invicta fed on the cuticle, cortex and phloem of A. adenophora, while the other insects mainly fed on the fresh leaves of A. adenophora. These findings will provide an important reference for the scientific management of A. adenophora in the future.