Flight and Dispersal of the European Pine Shoot Moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.) I. Factors Affecting Flight, and the Flight Potential of Females

Abstract

In a recent paper, Pointing (8) described the distribution of the European pine shoot moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiff.), in Ontario. Since first discovered in the Toronto area in 1925, the insect has become widely dispersed, so that at the present time, it appears in almost continuous distribution wherever red and Scots pines grow in southwestern Ontario. Two main factors are responsible for the rapid spread of the infestations, (a) the chance planting of infested nursery stock, and (b) the natural dispersal tendencies of the species. This, and the succeeding paper of this series, will be concerned with the natural dispersal of the shoot moth; dispersal, as used throughout both papers, describing movement beyond the tree on which the insect hatched from the egg.