| This project was undertaken to better understand the ecology of kudzu growing in the United States, and to determine differences between plants from North Carolina and China. Studies of insect herbivory and the comparative growth of kudzu from Chinese and United States seed sources are presented.;Larvae of Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), the soybean looper, were successfully reared on kudzu. The stadia at which insects were transferred from artificial diet to foliage influenced development time, number of stadia, consumption, and size, with the fourth stadia being the optimum stage for transfer. When offered kudzu alone, females readily used it for oviposition, but when both kudzu and soybean were provided, soybean was preferred.;Insect herbivory on kudzu seeds was widespread across NC, with 80.9% of unprotected seeds damaged by insect feeding. Damage from hemipterans was predominant, and feeding by a naturalized bruchid, Borowecious ademptus (Sharp), was also common.;In the field, plants from China had less insect defoliation than plants from the US. In a laboratory bioassay, however, no significant differences were found in preimaginal development times of P. includens, or in the amount of foliage consumed, suggesting that Chinese plants were not better defended from herbivory than US kudzu.;Kudzu of Chinese origin had greater biomass accumulation in the first year than did kudzu of US origin. Fiber content of the roots of Chinese plants was higher than that of US plants. These differences in vine growth and root fibers may be indicative of different varieties or biotypes of kudzu.;Herbivore-induced volatile production was examined in the field and the laboratory. Feeding by the herbivore P. includens resulted in an increase of visits by generalist predators at certain times of the year. Additional development of methods is needed to produce conclusive data on volatile production by kudzu and its induction by herbivores. |
