WHITE PINE WEEVIL, PISSODES STROBI (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE), ATTACK ON VARIOUS CONIFERS IN NEW YORK

Abstract

AbstractField studies were conducted in which adult white pine weevils, Pissodes strobi (Peck), were confined on the leaders of six different conifer species and various parameters of weevil attack were recorded. Eastern white pine, Pinus strobus, the preferred native host, was the most susceptible to attack and the most suitable for brood production. All white pine leaders on which 3 or 6 male–female pairs of weevils were confined were killed, and mean numbers of emerging brood adults per leader were 26.0 and 37.3, respectively. Some leaders of the other species of pine and of spruce, Picea spp., were also killed, but brood production from them was very low. White spruce, P. glauca, leaders proved to be the least suitable for production of brood because no adult progeny emerged, even from leaders that had been killed.