PHYTOPHAGOUS INSECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CULTIVATED MARIJUANA, CANNABIS SATIVA, IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI

During the growing seasons of 1983 and 1985, a general survey of insects associated with cultivated marijuana, Cannabis sativa, on the University of Mississippi campus was conducted. Of the species collected that were using the plants for food, the majority (43) were sap feeders, 15 were leaf chewers, nine ate or gathered pollen and one was possibly a root feeder. Only sap feeders appeared to be successfully reproducing on the marijuana. Species collected in greatest abundance were Agallia constricta and Graphocephala versuta (Cicadellidae), Spissistillus festinus (Membracidae), Clastoptera xanthocephala (Ceropidae), Halticus bractatus (Miridae), Systena elongata (Chrysomelidae) and Schizocerella pilicornis (Argidae).