Premium
Do waxes on Eucalyptus leaves provide protection from grazing insects?
Author(s) -
EDWARDS PENELOPE B.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
australian journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 0307-692X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1982.tb01309.x
Subject(s) - eucalyptus , wax , biology , frost (temperature) , resistance (ecology) , tortoise , juvenile , grazing , botany , horticulture , ecology , geography , biochemistry , meteorology
Abstract Evidence is presented which indicates that the removable wax layer on juvenile leaves of several species of Encalyptus provides protection from grazing by the Eucalyptus tortoise beetle, Paropsis charybdis , by preventing the adult beetles from gaining a foothold. Other possible roles of Eucalyptus leaf waxes, particuarly those related to frost resistance, are considered in the light of the present observations.