The Pales Weevil, Hylobius pales (Hbst.), in Southern Ontario

Abstract

The pales weevil, Hylobius pales, was described in 1797 by Herbst (9), but it was not until 1916 that its importance in limiting the regeneration of white pine, Pinus strobus L., in cut-over areas was established by Carter (4). H e reported that up to 70 per cent of young reproduction trees might be killed by adults feeding on thc bark of young seedlings during the first two years following clear cutting of white pine. He concluded that it was unwise to plant white pine during the two seasons follouring cutting because seedlings in the vicinity of the stumps, in which the Weevil breeds. would be subjected to heavy feeding, and the resulting loss of trees would produce open areas in the planting. In 1921, Peirson (10) recorded in broad terms the seasonal history, distribution, host plants, habits,and control of the weevil, based primarily on a study of the insect in Massachusetts. More recently, Beal and McClintick (1), Bess (2), Savely (11), Sentell (12), and Wells (16) have emphasized the continued importance of the weevil as a forest pest and have recorded its presence in most of the United States east of the Mississippi and north of Florida, and in Canada from Nova Scotia to Manitoba. Friend and Chamberlin (8) and Ebel and Speers (5) have discussed population levels of the weevil in relation to cutting practices, and Speers (13, 14, 15) has discussed its control through the use of sprays and dips.