,
Israel Some species are
invasive, and are considered to be
noxious weeds, such as in
South Asia,
Southern Africa and
Australia. In the United States, lantanas are invasive in Hawai’i and the
southeast, especially coastal regions of
the Carolinas,
Georgia,
Florida, and the
Gulf Coast. The spread of lantana is aided by the fact that their leaves are poisonous to most animals and thus avoided by herbivores, while their fruit is a delicacy for many
birds, including the
yellow-fronted white-eye of
Vanuatu, the
superb fairy-wren in Australia, the
scaly-breasted munia, and the
Mauritius bulbul in the
Mascarenes; these
distribute the seeds and thereby spread lantana throughout the
ecosystem.
Biological control of introduced lantanas has been attempted, without robust success. In Australia, about 30 insects have been introduced in an attempt to control the spread of lantanas, and this has caused problems of its own. The lantana bug (
Aconophora compressa) for example is a
polyphagous species introduced in 1995 that feeds on dozens of plants, and not only has it failed to have a noticeable impact on the lantana population, it has even become a
pest in horticulture, parasitizing the related fiddlewoods (
Citharexylum). The small
Lantana-feeding
moths
Epinotia lantana and
Lantanophaga pusillidactyla, while not becoming pests, have nonetheless failed to stem the spread of the invasive weed, as has the lantana scrub-hairstreak
butterfly (
Strymon bazochii) which was introduced to control lantanas on the
Hawaiian Islands. Other
Lepidoptera whose
caterpillars feed on lantana species include the
common splendid ghost moth (
Aenetus ligniveren),
Aenetus scotti,
Endoclita malabaricus,
Hypercompe orsa and the
setaceous Hebrew character (
Xestia c-nigrum). The
swamp wallaby (
Wallabia bicolor) is one of the few
mammals that eat lantana leaves without apparent ill effect. Lantanas are useful as
honey plants, and Spanish flag (
L. camara),
L. lilacina and
L. trifolia are sometimes planted for this purpose, or in
butterfly gardening. Butterflies which are attracted to lantana flowers are most notably
Papilioninae (swallowtail and birdwing butterflies).
Hesperiidae (skippers) and certain
brush-footed butterflies (namely
Danainae and
Heliconiinae), as well as some
Pieridae (e.g. cloudless sulphur,
Phoebis sennae),
Lycaenidae (e.g. the aforementioned
lantana scrub-hairstreak), and
Nymphalidae (e.g.
Greta oto) also like to visit the plants' flowers. Consequently, as total eradication of
Lantana seems often impossible, it may in many cases be better to simply remove plants with immature (green) fruit to prevent them from spreading. . Some
weaverbirds such as the
black-throated weaver (
Ploceus benghalensis) and the
streaked weaver (
P. manyar) highly value
Lantana flowers for decorating their nests. An ability to procure spectacular and innovative decorations appears to be desired by females, and consequently is an indicator of the males'
fitness. In Australia it has been found that removing Lantana from urban greenspaces can have negative impacts on bird diversity locally, as it provides refuge for species like the
superb fairy (
Malurus cyaneus) and
silvereye (
Zosterops lateralis) in the absence of native plant equivalents. There seems to be a density threshold in which too much Lantana (thus homogeneity in vegetation cover) can lead to a decrease in bird species richness or abundance.
Ceratobasidium cornigerum is a
higher fungus which parasitizes
Lantana among other plants. The
sweet potato whitefly (
Bemisia tabaci) is a common
greenhouse pest and is often distributed with infested lantanas.
Lantana species, especially
L. camara, contain
pentacyclic triterpenoids that cause
hepatotoxicity and
photosensitivity when ingested by grazing animals such as
sheep,
goats,
bovines, and
horses. This has led to widespread
livestock loss in the United States, South Africa, India, Mexico, and Australia. ==Uses==