Screening spruce for white pine weevil resistance

• Project description
• Distribution of P. strobi in North America
• Genetic variation in canadian weevil populations
• Range of Sitka spruce
• Sources tested for resistance in Western North America
• White pine weevil resistance screening trials
• Mass screening for resistance (Jordan River plantation)
• Ghost trial: studies using caged insects clarified the mating system of weevils
• Artificial wounding studies: Studying plant defenses
• Insect - plant relationships
• Are weevil resistant trees also resistant to other insects?
• Conclusions
• Selected references

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Distribution of P. strobi in North America

The White pine weevil, Pissodes strobi Peck (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is the most serious and economically important native insect pest of spruce and pine regeneration in Canada. Distributed across Canada and the USA, this insect was first described in 1817 by W. D. Peck, a professor at Harvard University.

In British Columbia and Alberta, the weevil primarily attacks Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.), White spruce (P. glauca (Moench) Voss), and Engelmann spruce (P. engelmannii Parry). Black spruce (P. mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), Norway spruce (P. abies (L.) Karst), and occasionally Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) are also susceptible. This preference for spruce has caused this insect to be referred to as the "spruce weevil" in western Canada.

In eastern Canada, the weevil can be found on White pine (Pinus strobus L.), Red pine (P. resinosa Ait.), Jack pine (P. banksiana Lamb.), Scots pine (P. sylvestris L.0), White spruce, Red spruce (P. rubens Sarg.), Black spruce, Norway spruce and Colorado Blue spruce (P. pungens Engelm). In eastern Canada and the USA, it is considered that pure plantations of White pine and later Norway spruce have led to significant increases in weevil population over the last century.

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