DIORYCTRIA BANKSIELLA (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE) IN THE WESTERN GALL RUST, ENDOCRONARTUM HARKNESSII (BASIDIOMYCETES: UREDINALES)

Abstract

AbstractThe seasonal occurrence and larval habits of Dioryctria banksiella Mutuura, Munroe, and Ross in the western gall rust Endocronartium harknessii (J. P. Moore) Y. Hiratsuka of jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lamb., were studied in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The early instars score the gall tissue below the bark, and the later instars mine the gall tissue and heartwood. The insect overwinters in the larval stage. The last-instar larvae pupate partly exposed and not entirely within the rust gall from June to July and adults emerge from July to August. The six species of parasites recovered from D. banksiella were Bracon lutus Provancher, Bracon sp., Microchelonus sp., Agathis binominata Muesebeck, Exeristes comstockii (Cresson), and Stiboscopus n. sp. Morphological characters used in separating the last-instar larvae and pupae of D. banksiella from those of other known species of Dioryctria are given.