Abstract
Large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) damages different organs of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings in unclosed plantations, including foliage, buds, stem bark and roots. Simulated damage of respective organs, particularly debudding is one of the ways to evaluate qualitative and quantitative influence of such damage on tree condition.
 The aim of research was to evaluate the dependence of Scots pine seedlings mortality and height increment on artificial and large pine weevil caused bud damage.
 The growth of apical shoots of Scots pine seedlings was registered since the beginning of May to the end of June. Development of new shoots in seedlings with manually bud removal or large pine weevil damage started in beginning of May and continued in July.
 Mortality of Scots pine seedlings with 20% of lateral buds damaged did not differ from that in undamaged plants. The seedlings with apical and lateral buds manually removed as well as with apical and over 70% lateral buds damaged by large pine weevil have died in the year of treatment or damage. The seedlings with apical buds damaged as well as with apical and over 50% lateral buds damaged died in the 4th year after damage.
 Removal or damage up to 50% lateral buds did not affect the growth of Scots pine seedlings. Height increment of seedlings with apical buds manually removed or damaged by large pine weevil did not differ significantly in May and June of the year of treatment or damage. In July the height increment was statistically greater in the variant with manually removal of apical bud.
 Previously suggested scale of Scots pine seedlings bud damage satisfactory reflects the score of large pine weevil injuriousness.
 We can suggest that height increment in the next years after bud damage does not depend on damage way and intensity but mainly on ecological conditions.
Highlights
Large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis Linnaeus 1758) is one of the most spread and dangerous pests of conifer plantations, especially in the first years after planting
The growth of apical shoots of Scots pine seedlings was registered since the beginning of May to the end of June
The seedlings with apical and lateral buds manually removed as well as with apical and over 70 % lateral buds damaged by large pine weevil have died in the year of treatment or damage
Summary
Large pine weevil (Hylobius abietis Linnaeus 1758) is one of the most spread and dangerous pests of conifer plantations, especially in the first years after planting. Its larvae develop under the bark of stumps or roots of weakened trees, and adults damage different parts of trees during maturation feeding (Wainhouse et al, 2004, Nordlander et al, 2017). Such damage is the most dangerous for the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) transplants of the first three years old, because they have small stem surface, and small number of buds and needles. The first wave includes the beetles of hibernating generations of different age (1-3 years old) and is the highest by population number and damage It starts with beginning of vegetation period (about middle of April), has maximum at the second half of May and the first half of June. The second wave is lower, includes the beetles of the new generation, and begins in July with maximum at the second half of August and the first half of September (Meshkova & Sokolova, 2017)
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