ABSTRACT
The use of canonical correlations has enabled one to assess the interrelationships which exist between insects introduced for control of alligator weed. The stress of insect feeding on alligator weed increases directly with increased attack, resulting in plants with shorter stems and smaller stem diameters. Alligator weed forms floating mats of interwoven stems, frequently extending 30 m or more out over the surface of the water. The interactions and relationships which exist between different types of alligator weed and populations of phytophagous insects Vogtia malloi Pastrana and Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt introduced for biological control are known to be significant. To study these associations, a multivariate analysis known as canonical correlations was used. In canonical correlations, a set of independent variables may be compared with a set of dependent variables in such a way as to find the linear combination of variables in each set which, when correlated, is maximum. The resultant variable is known as a canonical variate.
