Frequency of Parasitism by Eurosta solidaginis and Rhopalomyia solidaginis on Solidago canadensis

The insect plant interaction studied in this lab is the parasitic relationship between the Solidago canadensis and two gall making species of parasitic fly Eurosta solidaginis and Rhopalomyia solidaginis. The questions proposed are do the frequencies of the apical and stem galls different, do the different galls influence plant growth, and does wall thickness effect gall fly success. The data for this was gathered at the University of Cincinnati field station located on the edge of Miami Whitewater forest. The number of goldenrods with galls and without galls were counted and measured. The data was compiled and analyzed. The results found that the goldenrods growth were impacted significantly by the galls, the density of apical galls was much higher than the stem galls, and the thicker walled galls led to greater gall fly success. Overall the results supported the hypothesis that the galls would have a negative impact on plant growth but the results did not support the hypothesis that the thicker galls were less successful or that the densities of the two gall types would be relatively the same.