POTENTIAL OF ANTIFEEDANTS TO CONTROL LARVAL FEEDING OF SELECTED NEODIPRION SAWFLIES (HYMENOPTERA: DIPRIONIDAE)

Abstract

AbstractAntifeedants for controlling larval feeding of several Neodiprion sawflies were evaluated in laboratory and field studies. Nine commercially available insect antifeedants and a hexane extract of the juvenile foliage of jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lambert, were tested on larvae of six species. In laboratory bioassays larvae exhibited varying sensitivity to antifeedants; generally species with monophagous or restricted oligophagous feeding habits were most sensitive. In the laboratory the Swaine jack pine sawfly, Neodiprion swainei Middleton, had severely restricted feeding, development, survival, and fecundity. Triphenyltin hydroxide was toxic to N. swainei and to European pine sawfly, N. sertifer (Geoffroy). In field tests certain antifeedants disrupted N. swainei feeding and development. The colonial behavior of larvae often was disrupted and solitary larvae fell from trees or wandered on twigs. Colony disruption by most antifeedants was temporary and many larvae resumed feeding.