Schutz der Wälder vor Schädlingen in der Ukraine

Abstract

Protection of Forests from Pests in Ukraina The Author relates, on the basis of many years practical work in forest protection in the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, on the actual state of forest pests and their control. The 1st part deals with the development and success of chemical control since 1945. Among the products used DDT and HCCH preparations preponderate. Treatment takes place either by local dusting or by aerial spraying on large surfaces. In the 2nd part the author warns from careless use of chemical control where entomophages or other useful animals may be destroyed along with the pests. It is shown in detail that the degree of infestation depends on the physiological condition of the insect pest on the one hand, on that of the host plant on the other hand. A forecast on egg production of pest insects is possible, at least inPorthetria dispar, according to the size of pupae, which as a whole is proportional to it. In order to determine the degree of parasitation in pest caterpillars a method was worked out at the Kiev Institute, bySirotina, on the basis of the hemolymph picture. The count of healthy eggs and young larvae on model trees allows to determine, according to a formula, the possible damage and according to it the necessary and practicable protective measures. Physiological resistance of host plants is conditioned by the presence of protective substances in their tissues. These substances are partly of a similar chemical constitution as the commonly used insecticides. They fail to be formed or are unsufficiently so if the trees, mostly in artificial cultures, have been placed under external conditions unfavourable to their species: this is then the cause of mass-infestation by pests. These unfavourable factors may reside in soil conditions, in an improper choice of tree species or of silvicultural measures, and when corrected, the healthy state of stands will be restored.