Interactions With Other Organisms
Sweet Potato
Hornworm
The Sweet Potato Hornworm, or Agrius cingulata,
is the larva stage of the Pink-spotted Hawkmoth. Its larva
stage can be described as a large voracious caterpillar that is
more than cable of damaging every leaf off of one sweet potato
plant. This organism
loves to feed on sweet potato plants and other members of the Convolvulaceae family.
It causes large irregular holes in the leaf blades and even
sometimes leaves nothing but the petiole of the leaf behind.
These caterpillars are variable in color from green to brown,
occasionally yellow and are distinctly patterned. They have a
posterior horn and reach about 9.5 centimeters.
Sweet Potato Weevil
There is definitely a reason why "evil" is apart of "Weevil." Sweet
potato weevils are arguable the most important sweet potato pests in
the world. The species of weevils correlates with their location from
Euscepes postfasciatus in South America to Cylas formicarius in
Asia. Reported crop losses to this pest range from five to
ninety-seven percent. The principle form of damage includes mining
holes in the storage roots of Sweet potatoes. They have
reddish-orange bodies and dark bluish heads and are about 1/4 of an
inch long.
Sweet Potato Vine Borer
The scientific name of this sweet potato pest is Omphisa
anastomasalis. Their name tells exactly what they do. The larvae
stage of this organism has viscous chewing mouth parts that allow
it to bore into the vines of sweet potatoes. Larvae are usually
cream to light purple in color. How can you tell if a plant has these
pests living inside its vines? The plant will have overall poor
growth. Storage root formation is poor and will be smaller. Most
plants will appear yellow and wilted.
Root Knot Nematode
A few species of
root knot nematodes include Meloidogyne
incognita, Meloidogyne arenaria, Meloidogyne hapla, and
Meloidogyne javanica.
These parasites do not only prefer sweet potato plants, but will
certainly use them as a host if given the opportunity. Root Knot
Nematode infection often is easy to identify because the
swellings in roots that look like knots. Infections cause a growth
decline in plants and in some cases lead to death. Other species
under the Nematoda phylum are
Ancylostoma duodenale, better known as the Hook Worm, and
Wuchereria bancrofti.
Us!
For their nutrition, great taste, and some medicinal purposes, we
humans love to eat sweet potatoes! How do people prepare sweet
potatoes? Check out some sweet
recipes!