Impact of herbivory by Hydrellia pakistanae (Diptera: Ephydridae) on growth and photosynthetic potential of Hydrilla verticillata

The impacts of varying levels of herbivory by Hydrellia pakistanae on the dioecious ecotype of Hydrilla verticillata were evaluated by conducting a 10-week growth experiment within mesocosm tanks. The observed leaf damage to H. verticillata stems was highly correlated with the total number of immature H. pakistanae in H. verticillata tissue at the time of harvest (P<0.001, R2>0.80). Increasing levels of insect herbivory significantly impacted biomass and growth morphology of H. verticillata. Relative to control tanks, plants under intermediate or high levels of herbivory produced progressively less biomass. Insect herbivory also significantly impacted investment of energy in sexual and asexual reproduction. Plants under an intermediate or high level of herbivory produced fewer than 15% of the number of pistillate flowers produced by plants in control tanks. Furthermore, plants subject to high insect herbivory produced fewer and smaller tubers than control tanks. Finally, herbivory had a strong impact on the photosynthetic potential of stems. With 10–30% leaf damage, the maximum rate of light-saturated photosynthesis was reduced 30–40% relative to undamaged controls. Total daily photosynthetic production in these stems was estimated to balance, just barely, the daily respiratory needs of stems. Photosynthetic rate was reduced by about 60% in stems showing 70–90% leaf damage. This level of photosynthetic reduction would make continued survival of the plants unlikely since they would be unable to meet daily respiratory demands.