Canadian Forest Service Publications
Seasonal abundance and synchrony between Laricobius nigrinus (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) and its prey, the hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) 2003. Zilahi-Balogh, G.M.G.; Humble, L.M.; Lamb, A.B.; Salom, S.M.; Kok, L.T. The Canadian Entomologist 135: 103-115.
Year: 2003
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 21349
Language: English
Availability: Not available through the CFS (click for more information).
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.4039/n02-059
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Abstract
Laricobius nigrinus Fender, native to the pacific Northwest, is being evaluated as a potential biological control agent of the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand, in the eastern United States. Members of the genus Laricobius feed exclusively on adelgids. Adelges tsugae is found on hemlocks (Tsuga sp.) in North America and Asia, but is considered only a pest of eastern [Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière] and Carolina (Tsuga caroliniana Engelmann) hemlocks in eastern North America. This is the first detailed study of the life history of L. nigrinus and its interaction with A. tsugae. Results of a 2-year field study conducted in a seed orchard in British Columbia on the seasonal abundance of L. nigrinus and its prey, A. tsugae, revealed that (i) the sistens generation of A. tsugae matures 2-3 months earlier than previously reported in Virginia and Connecticut, (ii) no A. tsugae sexuparae were observed, which differs from findings in Virginia and Connecticut, (iii) L. nigrinus adults undergo an aestival diapause that coincides with diapausing first instar A. tsugae sistens and (iv) oviposition and subsequent larval development of L. nigrinus coincides with oviposition by the A. tsugae sistens adults, indicating good synchrony between L. nigrinus and suitable prey stages of A. tsugae.