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NITROGEN FERTILIZATION OF THE HOST TREE AND POPULATION GROWTH OF THE BALSAM WOOLLY APHID, ADELGES PICEAE (HOMOPTERA: ADELGIDAE)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J. Roderick Carrow  and
K. Graham
J. Roderick Carrow
Affiliation:
Forest Research Laboratory, Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Victoria, British Columbia
K. Graham
Affiliation:
Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
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Abstract

The relationship between nutrition of the host tree, Abies amabilis (Dougl.) Forbes, as influenced by nitrogen fertilizers, and the growth of populations of the balsam woolly aphid, Adelges piceae (Ratz.), was investigated. Sixty trees, growing in a greenhouse in two soil types, a nutrient-deficient mineral soil and an enriched humic soil, were infested with woolly aphid larvae. Subsequently, groups of 10 trees received foliar treatments of various concentrations of ammonium nitrate and urea. The following year, 32 young trees in Seymour Valley, B.C., were studied to determine the effect of fertilization of uninfested trees on establishment of aphid larvae.

In the greenhouse, foliar sprays of 1% ammonium nitrate solution resulted in a 23% decrease in population in 10 weeks, as contrasted with a 31% increase in the control population. In the field, larval establishment was 31% to 37% lower on the ammonium nitrate-treated trees than on the control trees. Inasmuch as there was no evidence of increased mortality of aphids in situ, we infer that the fertilizer acts primarily by inhibiting initial settling of larvae on the host trees.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 100 , Issue 5 , May 1968 , pp. 478 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1968

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Footnotes

1

Based in part on research conducted by J. R. Carrow in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., and supported by aid from Canada Department of Forestry and Rural Development.

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