Dose-Dependent Pheromone Responses of Mountain Pine Beetle in Stands of Lodgepole Pine

Abstract

We conducted seven behavioral choice tests with Lindgren multiple-funnel traps in stands of mature lodgepole pine in British Columbia, from 1988 to 1994, to determine the dose-dependent responses of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, to its pheromones. A multifunctional dose-dependent response was exhibited by D. ponderosae to the pheromones cis- and trans-verbenol in areas with low population numbers. In an area with a high population level of D. ponderosae, the response was directly proportional to release rates. No dose-dependent response was exhibited by D. ponderosae to exo-brevicomin at low release rates. At rates of release >0.5 mg/d, exo-brevicomin interrupted the attraction of D. ponderosae in a dose-dependent fashion. The bark beetle predators, Enoclerus sphegeus (F.) and Thanasimus undatulus (Say), showed dose-dependent responses to only a few pheromones, with trap catches directly proportional to release rates. The multi-functional response of D. ponderosae to verbenols is consistent with an optimal attack density hypothesis.