A short essay on the perspective the Ailanthus web worm has on its environmental needs

1. I am Atteva aurea
 I needsomeplace with
o 1.) easilyaccessible food
o 2.) malestomate withand
o 3.) egglayingsitesnearby.
 The closerthe foodisto my egglayingsite the lessenergyIexpend movingbetweenfoodand
breedingsites andthe more energy Ihave foregglayingandproducinghealthyoffspring. Imay
evenproduce 2 broods if life iseasyenough.
 I am brightlycoloredtotell potentialpredatorsthatI taste horrible due toretainingchemicals
fromeatingAilanthusaltissima as a larva. I mayevenmake themsick.
 The flowersIwant touse donot needto offershelterorprotectionfromenemiesdue my
noxioustaste. Therefore,Icanuse flowersthatare inbigstands, easyto findand easily
accessible.
 I wantan easynectarsource. So, I prefercompoundflowers astheyrequire nospecial
adaptationsthata generalistnectarfeederlike me needstoevolve.
 Compoundflowersalsoofferaneasyplace tomeetmates. The leavesare an easilyaccessible
matinglocation. Malescan waitthere all nightuntil Iam readyto mate inthe morningafter
feedingonthe nutrientdensenectar.
 Occasionally annoyingmiteshitchhikeonme whenIemerge asan adultfrommy pupa stage
and whenImove between Ailanthus treesasIdepositeggs. Theyoftendropoff of me whenI
laymy eggs on Ailanthus treesandwebsof the larvae of my sisters.
 Phytopathogenicfungi reside inandonme fromwhenI accidentlyate themasa larva. I
sometimesleave thembehindasdroppingsonleaves andwebs whenmovingaroundlaying
eggsand sometimes evenonmyeggs.
 I like tolaymy eggson the websof the larvae of my sistersasthat sheltersmyoffspring and
givesthemlessworktodo as theygrow. However,anystemwill doasmy eggslooklike the
natural specklingonthe leafletsandstems.
 My larvae preferthe softestpartsof the Ailanthus treesforfood. Thismeansthe younger
leavesandnewbark. Theyespeciallylike seedlingsandsaplingsastheyare softandeasyto eat.
 As the competitionincreasesforthe egglaying siteslaterinthe summerandintothe fall,Iam
forcedto laymy eggson olderandharderleavesandon mature trees. Theyare not my
preferredsites,butare acceptable whenall the bestleaveshave beeneaten.
 I mate as soon as leavesformonmyhost.
 I have not adaptedtocold weather. Therefore,Ibreeduntil afreeze stopsme inthe fall.
 I have become increasinglycoldtolerant,evensurvivingwinterswherethere isfrostandice if
the conditionsare right.
 I can efficiently travellongdistancesinsearchof foodand egglayingsites. Iflyinstraightlines,
not needingtoflyerraticallytoavoidpredators. Thismakesthe apparentdistancesmuch
shorter.
 My larvae are wonderful engineers,makingwebstoprotectthemfromthe worldandtents of
leavestoprotectthemwhentheyare pupae.
 My larvae furtherprotectthemselvesbystretchingoutlike twigsandbeingstill whennot
feedingorspinningweb.
 My larvae have colormorphsfromalmostblackthroughbrown toa lighttan.
 I come in a nice array of colors,too. I am not alwaysjustthe standardorange withblackstripes
and white dots. SometimesIamreddishandothertimesIam greenish.

2. I am Aculopsailanthii
 I am an eriophyoidmitewithaferociousappetite.
 I suck the juice outof Ailanthusaltissima leaves.
 I move onthe windbutprefertohitch rideson birdsand insectssuchas moths to new food
sources as theyare lessrandomthanthe wind and getme to where I wantto be withlessriskof
missingmytarget. Thisenhancesmyabilitytoreproduce by directly targetingtreesformy
offspringtofeedonandgrow.
 I sometimescarrydisease betweentreeswhichweakensthemandtherefore make themeasier
to consume. Infact, I oftenpreferdiseasedtreesastheyare easiertofeedon due to their
weakeneddefenses.
 I breedat heroicrates,coveringleavesandtrees withthousandsof mychildreninafew weeks.
I am phytopathogenicfungi of Ailanthusaltissima
 I maskmy generalistnature bypretending toevolvespeciesspecificity.
 I oftenjumpspecies,adaptingtonew phytochemistries.
 I have much geneticplasticitywhich confusesgeneticistsandmakesamessof cladistics. These
people keeptryingtotry to make me a pathogenof evenjustone cultivarof a plant. That will
neverhappen.
 I travel betweenhostplantsinthe gutsandon the bodies of mothsandmites,mymost
preferredmethodof travel andthe mostefficient. OccasionallyIgetridesfrombirdsand other
animalsorin the wind.
 I thrive bestinwarm,wetyearsand inareas where myhostplantshave easyaccess to soil
moisture.
 I have evolved small elongated microconidiathatpassthroughthe waterand foodpipelines of
my hostplants,allowingme tospreadthroughoutmyhost.
 My macroconidiahave pointsand are steeplycurved inplaces sotheysticktothe bodiesand
inside the gutsof insectsthatconsume myhost plant.
 I have evolvedchlamydosporeswhichcansurvive manyyearsanddecadesinadverse conditions
waitingforthe environmenttochange back inmy favor.
 I can breedbycloningor by exchangingDNA withothermembersof myspecies. Isometimes
absorbDNA fromothermembersof mygenusand even,veryrarely,outside mygenus.
 I like tospecialize butretainmyabilitytoadaptto otherplants,preferablywithinthe same
genus andfamily.
 Eventhoughdeathis oftenwhat eventually happenstomyhostplant,I have spreadpartsof me
widelyandsurvive throughmyoffspringinnew hosts.
Biocontrol isa mechanisticattempttocontrol an ecosystemwithone ormore non-nativeorganisms. It
doesnotattemptto bringan ecosystembackintothe original balance. Insteaditcausesanew system
to developthatisinherentlyalientothatecosystem.
Bioeradicationusesavarietyof native organismsworkingtogether toeradicate anon-native organism
fromthe ecosystem andrestore ittoitsoriginal state.
The difference betweenbioeradicationandbiocontrol isthatbioeradicationassumesitispossibleto
eradicate a non-native speciesfromanecosystemusingnativespecies. The goal of biocontrol isto use
non-native speciestoreduce the effectsof aninvasive non-native organismonanecosystem. One

3. eliminateswithoutthe chance of resurgence anon-native species. The otherleavesthe non-native
intactand in place withthe chance of evolvingintoanoverwhelmingproblemwhile introducingother
non-nativeswiththe same the potentialtoevolve intooverwhelming problems.
The biggestissue with bioeradicationisthe definitionof anative species. Rose rosette disease probably
startedalongthe PacificCoastin a native rose species. Thatitis now local withoutdeliberate
introductionsqualifiesitasa native species. Atteva aurea isnative tothe Americanneo-tropics. Thatit
founda non-native foodsource, followeditaroundNorthAmericaandintonew ecosystemsonitsown
makesita native species. The same istrue withthe fungi destroyingJapanese StiltGrass. It probably
evolvedon native grassessuchas Zea mays. It is spreadingonitsownwithoutdeliberatehuman
introduction. Therefore,itisanative species. However,takingaspeciesfromone ecosystemand
introducingintoanotherwhere ithasnothistoricallybeenresident byaccidentordeliberately,evenif it
isonlya matterof meters,meansthatit isnot a native species.