Larval development of Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Den. & Schiff.) (Lep., Thaumetopoeidae) from Greece as influenced by different host plants under laboratory conditions¹

Abstract

The pine processionary caterpillar Thuumetopoea pityocumpa is one of the pine defoliators of high economic importance, especially in forests of the Mediterranean. Various species of Pinus serve as food plants to this polyphagous forest pest. To observe the effects of different pines on the development and mortality, newly hatched larvae from egg batches collected at Kassandra/Greece were treated with 13 different species of pines and with one species of larch. Pinus mugo Turra was taken as the standard host plant and the effects shown by the caterpillars feedin on other pine needles were compared with those feeding on P. mugo. The pine twigs used for t8e current study were made available by *Berggarten" of Hannover.Cateroillars fed with the needles of P. strobus L.. P. oarvzfloru S. & Z.. P. cembru L.. P.wullichiaha Jacks and Lurix kaempferi (Lamb.) Car;. sh'owed a delayed larval development.Moreover, a 100 Yo mortality could be observed within the first instar in the larvae feeding on P. purvifora and within the second instar in those feeding on P. strobus and L. kaempferi. The larvae fed with P. cernbru needles could live till third instar. Though some of the mature larvae fed on P. wallichiunu (= P. excelsu Wall.) migrated into the soil (larval mortality 96.7 Yo), none of the pupae could survive.The difference in the mean pupal weight could not be statistically verified in pupae of those cater illars which had fed on P. contortu Dougl., P. nigru Am., and P. leucodermis Ant., although the larvafmortality was recorded to be 11.7 YO, 43.3 YO and 33.3 YO, respectively. The mean pupal weight of other groups ranged from weakly to highly significant level.

Effects of defoliation by the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa on biomass growth of young stands of Pinus pinaster in northern Portugal

“…-Lep., Thaumetopoeidae) is one of the most de structive insects of Pinus and Cedrus in the Middle East, North Africa and many south ern European countries, including Portugal. The urticant hairs of the late instar larvae provokes serious reactions in humans and other mammals (Lamy 1990, Oliveira et al 2003 but it is also responsible for significant economic damage due to severe defoliation (Buxton 1983, Devkota & Schmidt 1990, Kanat et al 2005. Defoliation removes both photosynthetic material and sites where chemicals such as growth hormones are pro duced, affecting many vital functions (Carus 2004).…”

“…-Lep., Thaumetopoeidae) is one of the most de structive insects of Pinus and Cedrus in the Middle East, North Africa and many south ern European countries, including Portugal. The urticant hairs of the late instar larvae provokes serious reactions in humans and other mammals (Lamy 1990, Oliveira et al 2003 but it is also responsible for significant economic damage due to severe defoliation (Buxton 1983, Devkota & Schmidt 1990, Kanat et al 2005 (1971) reported that T. pityocampa attack was responsible for an about 45% volume decrease over a 50 year period.The effect of insect action on trees can be studied using predictive models (Hogg 1999) which allow estimates of dendrometric va riables (e.g., height, volume, and biomass) and can be used for inventory techniques in production studies (Komiyama et al 2008, Sochackia et al 2007). However, the use of allometric models to estimate the impact of insects on forest dynamics is virtually un known.…”

Behaviour Patterns of the Pine Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams; Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae)

“…This observation can be used to predict moth emergence in the future (may be even without the use of traps). This is the first report of such an observation and could serve to explain the lack of moth hatching in laboratory samples (<10%) reported for T. pityocampa [14] . Trapping moths should be initiated in the beginning of September and extra effort should be done on nights following rainy days.…”

“…Although several studies have been published worldwide on Thaumetopoea pityocampa which has similar preferences to T. wilkinsoni [11][12][13][14][15] and specifically on the effect of its hairs [16][17][18][19][20][21] , few scientific studies have emerged regarding T. wilkinsoni [6,22,23] . Most workers have only casually broached the issue [8,24,25] .…”

Isparta çam ormanlarında çam kese böceği (Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams, 1926) (Lep.: Notodontidae) zararının artım üzerine etkisi

“…Fakat epidemi halinde ağaçları çıplak hale getirir. İleri larva evrelerinde beslenme miktarı ve dolayısıyla zararı artar (Devkota & Schmidt, 1990). Bu açıdan bakıldığında ÇKB önemli yaprak zararlısı bir böcektir.…”