Great Plains Yucca, Yucca Moths, and a Colorful Beetle in the Nebraska Sandhills

Abstract

abstract:Great Plains yucca (Yucca glauca), the only native species of its genus in Nebraska, occurs almost statewide but is particularly common in the Sandhills. Since the 1870s, researchers have focused on the mutualism between yucca and yucca moths. The complex yucca–yucca moth system and direct and indirect effects that other associated insects have on the mutualism are summarized. A large checkered beetle (Enoclerus spinolae) of the family Cleridae is little known in Nebraska. Whereas yucca moths are drably colored and by day remain secluded in host flowers, the striking red and black adults of the clerid are conspicuous on yucca flowers and fruits (pods). Adults are aggressive predators of other yucca insects, including adult lady beetles (Coccinellidae). The clerid's larvae prey on larvae of other insects that develop in fruits, such as weevils and, potentially, yucca moths. The beetle might have dispersed to Nebraska from Colorado and Kansas in the first half of the 20th century.