CONSUMPTION OF VARIOUS DOUGLAS-FIR CONE STRUCTURES BY BARBARA COLFAXIANA (LEPIDOPTERA: OLETHREUTIDAE)

Abstract

During 1971 a study was conducted to determine the amount of the various Douglasfir cone structures (bracts, scales, and seeds) consumed by the Douglas-fir cone moth, Barbara colfaxiana (Kft.), in the Buckhead Seed Production Area, Willamette National Forest, Oregon. It was not the intent of this study to develop a complete energy budget for B. colfaxiana, but rather to determine the number of calories consumed, on the average, by an individual during the larval stage. The behavior of the various larval instars has been discussed by Radcliffe (1952), Keen (1958), Hedlin (1960), and Nebeker (1977). The calorie was selected as the unit of measure due to its usefulness in modeling energy transfer from one component to another in the forest ecosystem.