Influence of Host Tree on Abundance of Itoplectis conquisitor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a Polyphagous Parasite of the European Pine Shoot Moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.) (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae)

Abstract

The larvae of the European pine shoot moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.), feed on several species of hard pines, of which the most economically important are red pine, Pinus resinosa Ait., and Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L. Approximately one hundred million trees of each species mere planted in southern Ontario since 1905, most of them since 1925. Many pure and mixed stands are now infested by R. buoliana which has no apparent preference for either host tree.