Repellent effects of pineoil on the Sitka spruce weevil, Pissodes strobi (Peck), and an evaluation of large scale aerial photographs for detecting weevil damage

This study was designed to investigate the repellent effects of pineoil on the Sitka spruce weevil (=white pine weevil), Pissodes strobi Peck, and to evaluate the utility of large scale color aerial photography for detecting weevil attacked Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.. Two formulations of pineoil, BBR1 and BBR2, were field tested for their effect in protecting immature Sitka spruce from weevil attack in 36 twenty meter square plots at two locations on Vancouver Island. The pineoil formulations were applied both topically to the terminal leaders and in slow release devices hung at the apical whorl of Sitka spruce trees. The topical application of BBR1 to the leaders of all trees in the plots reduced the number of new weevil attacks to two trees compared with 24 new attacks in the control plots. None of the other pineoil treatments were found to differ significantly from the controls. An examination of the weevil attack history in the study plots showed that the average number of new weevil attacks in the pineoil treated plots were proportionately lower than the number of new attacks in the control plots. These findings suggest that applications of BBR1 to the terminal leaders of Sitka spruce trees will protect them from attack by P. strobi. Large scale color infra-red (CIR) and normal color (NC) aerial photograph stereo transparencies were evaluated for their utility in detecting weevil attacks in immature Sitka spruce stands. Four independent interpreters correctly identified an average of 38% more weeviled trees on CIR film than on NC film during a 1 minute test period. More errors were made by the interpreters with CIR film than with NC film. Interpreter errors made with CIR film were mainly due to a lack of ability to discriminate between new weevil attacks and attacks made the previous year. Errors made with NC film were due mainly to misidentifying healthy trees as new weevil attacks. These findings suggest that for the purpose of detecting weevil attacked Sitka spruce trees, CIR aerial photographs would be both faster and more accurate than NC photographs.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat