HOST SPECIFICITY IN PISSODES STROBI (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE): ROLES OF GEOGRAPHY, GENETICS, AND BEHAVIOR

Abstract

AbstractHost specificity of Pissodes strobi (Peck) from different geographic regions and genetic divergence of local host-associated weevil populations were studied in a series of experiments. Pacific coast P. strobi reared from Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr (Pinaceae), were unable to successfully colonize either eastern white pine, Pinus strobus L. (Pinaceae), or western white pine, Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D. Don., in a forced-infestation study on interplanted trees in New York. Reproductively mature field-collected P. strobi from British Columbia did not oviposit on eastern white pine in New York, but field-collected New York weevils successfully reproduced in Sitka spruce leaders in British Columbia. Unacceptability of eastern white pine for western P. strobi was shown to be under genetic control, rather than influenced by prior host experience on Sitka spruce. Pissodes strobi originating from Sitka spruce but reared one generation in the laboratory on the exotic Norway spruce, Picea abies (L.) Karst., were also unable to utilize eastern white pine as a host in a forced-infestation experiment in the field. Population genetic studies using allozyme electrophoresis found that P. strobi populations occurring on different host species within 2 km of each other had significant differences in allele frequencies in three out of four cases. These results suggest that P. strobi can exist as small breeding populations that can facilitate host specialization. Applied research on host resistance against P. strobi could target mechanisms that prevent western P. strobi from utilizing nonhosts such as eastern and western white pines.