New Pest Response Guidelines - aphis - US Department of Agriculture

Pest Information
Behavior
Dendrolimus pini
Adult
Virgin females emerge from the cocoons in the evening and produce a femalespecific
sex pheromone that is used to attract males. The primary pheromone
components have been identified as (Z,E)-5,7-dodecadienal (Priesner et al.,
1984) and additional components that enhance male searching behavior
identified as dodeca-cis-5, trans-7-dien-1-ol and the acetate of dodec-cis-5- or
trans 7-en-1-ol (Kovalev et al., 1993). Sexual maturation of females happens
within a few minutes of emergence and (Lebedev and Savenkov, 1930).
Normally, virgin females do not fly when they are newly emerged and will
remain in the same tree until mating, which can happen the same night of
emergence or can be delayed for up to eight days (Lebedev and Savenkov,
1930). After mating, females will start laying eggs for an average of 8 days
(ranging from 3-18 days) before dying (Kojima, 1933; Lebedev and Savenkov,
1930). During the first two days after mating, a mated female will lay 73% of
the total number of eggs after which oviposition will greatly decrease until the
female dies (Kojima, 1933). Females will fly soon after mating (Kojima,
1933).
Larva
Pine-tree lappet larvae will consume 95% of their food at dawn and dusk
(Malyshev, 1987). At first, feeding will be concentrated in old pine needles of
20 to 30 year old trees and as the old needles are consumed, the larvae will feed
more on fresh, new needles (Varga, 1966). Young, first instar larvae will start
feeding on the outer edges of needles and, as the larva grows, the entire needles
will be consumed. Table 2-6 shows the average daily consumptions of each
instar, calculated based on a consumption/defecation value (C/F) of 1.2 for
Dendrolimus pini L. (Tenow and Larson, 1987) and daily frass production
values estimated by Gosswald (1934).
Table 2-6 Daily Consumption (in g) of PTL
Instar 1 Consumption (g/day) 2 Frass (g/day)
(Gosswald, 1934)
I 0.011 0.009
II 0.033 0.028
III 0.067 0.056
IV 0.202 0.169
V 0.856 0.714
VI 1.436 1.197
2-30 Dendrolimus Pine Moths 12/2012-01