Invasive Buffelgrass, Cenchrus ciliaris, Balances Opportunistic Acquisition of Foliar fungi With Host and Environmental Filtering in Its Introduced Range.

Plants host diverse assemblages of fungi on their foliar tissues, both in internal compartments and on exterior surfaces. When plant distributions shift, they can move with their fungal associates (i.e.

A member of the Telenomus californicus Ashmead, 1893 complex parasitizing native cactus moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs in Mexico.

A collection of egg parasitoids in the Scelionidae are identified as members of the Telenomus californicus Ashmead, 1893 complex (californicus+dalmanni+arzamae groups). They were reared from eggs of the cactus zebra worm, Melitara cf. junctoliniella Hulst, 1900 (Pyralidae: Phycitinae) infesting Opuntia streptacantha Lemaire, 1839 (Cactaceae) at Bustamante, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Systematic reduction of natural enemies and competition across variable precipitation approximates buffelgrass invasiveness () in its native range.

Invasive grasses cause devastating losses to biodiversity and ecosystem function directly and indirectly by altering ecosystem processes. Escape from natural enemies, plant-plant competition, and variable resource availability provide frameworks for understanding invasion. However, we lack a clear understanding of how natural stressors interact in their native range to regulate invasiveness.