Primary Cortex Thickness Influences the Location of Ovarian Maturation Feeding and Oviposition ofPissodes strobi(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) within a Tree

Abstract

Abstract The white pine weevil’s [Pissodes strobi (Peck)] choice of bark tissue for ovarian maturation feeding was determined. In addition, the thicknesses of primary cortex tissue were determined to ascertain if primary cortex thickness was positively correlated with the selection of oviposition sites. White pine weevils engaged in ovarian-maturation feeding and oviposition, referred to in this article as reproductively active female weevils, preferentially feed on primary cortex tissues of Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis (Bongard) Carriere, and interior spruce (a complex of white spruce [Picea glauca (Moench) Voss] and Englemann spruce [P. englemannii Parry]) leaders. On these leaders they feed mostly and oviposit almost exclusively in sterigmata ridges where the thickest primary cortex occurs. Branches of open-grown trees have insufficient primary cortex thickness; they are not normally used for oviposition and are used poorly by caged reproductively active female weevils. Reproductively active female w...