INFLUENCE OF FOLIAR NITROGEN LEVELS ON SURVIVAL, DEVELOPMENT, AND REPRODUCTION OF WESTERN SPRUCE BUDWORM, CHORISTONEURA OCCIDENTALS (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE)

1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wayne Brewer ◽  
John L. Capinera ◽  
Robert E. Deshon ◽  
Mary L. Walmsley

AbstractThe influence of nitrogen levels in foliage of white-fir, Abies concolor, and Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, seedlings on various biological characteristics of the western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, was studied. Seedlings were grown under greenhouse conditions and provided with nutrient solutions to maintain five foliar nitrogen levels ranging from 1.29 to 4.42% dry weight for white fir and 1.43 to 3.94% for Douglas fir. Larvae confined to treated seedlings were monitored through the next generation. Larval mortality was higher, and development time longer, at both upper and lower extremes of foliar nitrogen than at mid-level. Mean pupal weight was significantly greater for larvae reared on white fir with the mid-range foliar-nitrogen level. Mean number, and weight, of eggs laid were highest when larvae fed on foliage from the mid-range nitrogen level. Total number of larvae produced was lowest at the high and low extremes of foliar nitrogen levels.

1977 ◽  
Vol 109 (9) ◽  
pp. 1153-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wayne Brewer ◽  
J. O’Neal

AbstractThe insecticide acephate (0.5-dimethyl acetyl phosphoramidothioate) was applied at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 lb A.I./gal (.058, 0.118, 0.179 kg/l.) in aqueous solution to individual Douglas-fir trees infested with western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, larvae in central Washington using hand held ground application equipment. Application was made when larvae were in the needle mining – bud mining stage at rates ranging from 2.58 to 5.10 gal/acre (3.97 to 7.84 l./ha). For all three concentrations, mortality of larvae inside needles was 94–98% after 1 day compared with a check mortality of 18% and larval mortality inside buds was 99% after 1 day compared with 23% for the check. Regression analyses indicated that defoliation was positively correlated with the number of needles mined the current year and per cent punctured buds, and negatively correlated with larval mortality inside both needles and buds. The data suggest that when applied at the rates used, acephate has some type of systemic action and can provide foliage protection during the year of application.


1992 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy F. Shepherd

AbstractIndividual larvae of western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman) were observed from overwintering emergence to pupation at six locations spread over a wide range of altitudes and thus climate. A weekly census of 100 lower-crown buds per plot indicated large differences in rates of bud development and larval survival among locations.Emerging second-instar larvae attempted to mine swelling buds of Douglas-fir. If the buds were hard and tight, larvae mined 1-year-old needles until penetrable buds were available. Larvae dispersed over the crowns with only one larva becoming established in each bud; thus, many early-emerging and surplus larvae could not find suitable feeding sites and disappeared. Within the protective bud, survival was high. After buds flushed and larvae became exposed, densities dropped, probably due to increased predation and decreased food quality. Correlations indicated a close association between larval survival for the exposed period between bud flush and pupation, and overall larval survival.Douglas-fir trees responded to initial bud removal, but not to needle removal, by inducing latent buds in the axils of needles to grow into active vegetative buds ready to develop and flush the next spring. The number of these new vegetative buds formed was greatest when the initial buds were removed early in the season before flush, and decreased thereafter. Trees with vigorous crowns had the greatest response to defoliation by inducing the largest number of latent buds into becoming active vegetative buds; these were found mainly on the 2- and 3-year-old internodes.


1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (7) ◽  
pp. 643-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. E. Harris ◽  
A. F. Dawson

Western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, periodically attacks Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) in British Columbia, causing mortality, deformity, and growth loss. Insect populations are assessed annually by the Canadian Forestry Service's Forest Insect and Disease Survey, by branch sampling for egg mass densities; predictions of population trends and damage are based on these assessments. Eggs, laid in rows in masses affixed to needles, are a preferred stage to sample because they are easily collected, remain fixed in numbers for an extended period, and precede damage by sufficient time to plan suppression or other programs. Numbers of masses alone, however, may not show population trends accurately as egg numbers per mass varies. Thus it is sometimes necessary to count eggs (Miller 1957), which is a formidable task. Fortunately egg numbers can be estimated from the dimensions of egg masses (Washburn and Brickell 1973). In this study, we determined the relationship between egg numbers and egg mass length and number of rows for samples from Douglas-fir stands frequently affected by spruce budworm throughout British Columbia. Data were collected over 3 years, 1977-79, during which time budworm populations were in a period of decline.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 839-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.G. Nealis ◽  
M.K. Noseworthy ◽  
R. Turnquist ◽  
V.R. Waring

The effect of removing lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) and retaining Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to reduce the risk of disturbance from mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk.) in mixed conifer stands in southern British Columbia, Canada, on population processes influencing outbreaks of western spruce budworm ( Choristoneura occidentalis Free.) was evaluated in 10 paired (open vs. closed) field plots. Overall feeding damage to Douglas-fir was significantly, but only slightly, lower in open stands compared with closed stands. Although open plots tended to recruit more budworms, the losses resulting from the dispersal of spring-emerging budworms in search of feeding sites were significantly greater in open plots. The forest management benefits of these early season losses were mitigated, however, by more mortality of budworms from natural enemies, particularly diseases, in the closed plots during the budworm feeding period. These results are discussed in terms of compensating population processes and balancing objectives in forest pest management. In this case, selective harvesting of lodgepole pine as a mitigation strategy for the mountain pine beetle conserved the midterm timber supply potential represented by associated Douglas-fir even in the presence of an outbreak of the western spruce budworm.


1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (8) ◽  
pp. 961-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.C. Reardon ◽  
L.J. Barrett ◽  
T.W. Koerber ◽  
L.E. Stipe ◽  
J.E. Dewey

AbstractThe systemic insecticides oxydemeton-methyl and acephate were injected at 10- and 15-cm spacings, and acephate and dimethoate were implanted at 10-cm spacing in Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco, to improve seed yield. Nutrients were also injected at 15-cm spacing. All treatments except nutrients and dimethoate increased the yield of filled seeds when compared with the checks. The western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman, and spruce coneworm, Dioryctria reniculelloides Mutuura and Munroe, caused most of the damage to cones.


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