No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Effect of Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) attack density on Pinus sylvestris (Pinaceae) survival
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2019
Abstract
Population density is often a critical factor in colonisation of trees by bark and wood-boring insects and may determine whether an exotic species is likely to establish and spread. In a manipulative field study, we investigated whether density of the attacking population of an exotic invasive woodwasp, Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae), affected survival and time-to-death of a favoured host tree, Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus (Pinaceae). We introduced mating pairs of woodwasps to stressed P. sylvestris at either high (15 mating pairs, nine trees) or low (two mating pairs, nine trees) density. More trees died, and more quickly, when exposed to the high versus low density of S. noctilio (78% versus 33% of trees). In the high-density treatment, year of tree death was synonymous with production of a S. noctilio F1 cohort (one-year or two-year generation time); this pattern was not as consistent in the low-density treatment. Although sample size was limited, our results indicate that attack density affects S. noctilio colonisation of P. sylvestris.
- Type
- Behaviour and Ecology–NOTE
- Information
- Creative Commons
- Parts of this are a work of the Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Part of this is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
- Copyright
- © Entomological Society of Canada 2019
Footnotes
Present address: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, 1992 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55108, United States of America
Subject editor: Deepa Pureswaran