Pissodes strobi

Pissodes strobi, known as the white pine weevil or Engelmann spruce weevil, is the primary weevil attacking and destroying white pines. It was described in 1817 by William Dandridge Peck, professor of natural history and botany at Harvard University. The weevil is dark brown with white spots and is native to North America.[1]

Pissodes strobi
Two adult Pissodes strobi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Curculionidae
Genus: Pissodes
Species:
P. strobi
Binomial name
Pissodes strobi

The eggs are laid inside a tree, usually white pine, Sitka spruce, white spruce, Engelmann spruce, or other pine or spruce, and the offspring feed on this tree until the host is killed.[1]

Damage to white spruce and white pine

Severe damage to white spruce and white pine can be created by the white pine weevil. [2] Weevil resistance is a trait found in some trees and might be heritable.

A study showed that the resin (sap) released from wounds in white spruce leaders (tips) susceptible to the white pine weevil showed a different terpenoid composition than wounds induced in resistant white pine leaders. (Tomlin et al. 2000).[3]

In coastal British Columbia, Sitka spruce trees developed a resistance against the white pine weevils which includes disruptions in egg & larvae development, deters host selection & mating, and delays the development of ovaries in female white pine weevils.[4]

References
  1. "Forest Pest Insects in North America: a Photographic Guide -White pine weevil". Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  2. Kiss, G.K. 1989. Genetic improvement of white and Engelmann spruce. p. 132 in Magnussen, S.; Boyle, T.J.B. (Eds.). Proc. Part 1, 22nd Meet. Can. Tree Improv. Assoc., Edmonton AB, Aug. 1989.
  3. Tomlin, E.S.; Antonejevic, E.; Alfaro, R.I.; Borden, J.H. 2000. Changes in volatile terpene and diterpene resin acid composition of resistant and susceptible white spruce leaders exposed to simulated white pine weevil damage. Tree Physiol. 20:1087–1095.
  4. Robert, et al. Behavioral and Reproductive Response of White Pine Weevil (Pissodes Strobi) to Resistant and Susceptible Sitka Spruce (Picea Sitchensis). MDPI, Molecular Diversity Preservation International, 19 Aug. 2010.
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