Canadian Forest Service Publications
Seasonal changes in intra-tree distribution of immature balsam fir sawfly (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) 2002. Anstey, L.J.; Quiring, D.T.; Ostaff, D.P. The Canadian Entomologist 134: 529-538.
Year: 2002
Issued by: Atlantic Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 21435
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
A field study was carried out to determine the intracrown distribution of the balsam fir sawfly, Neodiprion abietis Harris (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), throughout the season on balsam fir, Abies balsamea L. (Pinaceae), during the first 2 years of an outbreak in western Newfoundland. Eggs were usually laid one per needle on current-year shoots, and the following year, newly emerged larvae usually initiated feeding on the same shoots. Balsam fir sawfly larvae were gregarious on needle and shoot levels in the early instars but gradually became solitary as larvae developed. The process of becoming soliatry was not due to the increased physical are required for the growing larvae as some older individuals, in mainly solitary stages, were seen feeding together. Unlike the continuous change from gregarious to solitary at the needle and shoot levels, the seasonal variation in larval density among whorls varied in an inconsistent manner. The majority of early instar larvae were found in the middle crown, but on at least one date in both years, the marjority of late instars were in the lower crown. Seventy-five percent of crawling larvae trapped within the crown were third and fourth instars, suggesting that changes in the intra-tree distribution are due to larval movement.