Gallery success, brood production and condition of mountain pine beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) reared in whitebark and lodgepole pine from Alberta, Canada

Breeding pairs of mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus pondersoae Hopkins) were introduced into freshly cut bolts of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelmann) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon var. latifolia Engelmann) in the laboratory. Brood adults emerging from the bolts were collected and galleries were dissected to compare reproductive success, brood production and adult condition between the two pines. Beetles were more likely to establish egg galleries that produced brood in lodgepole than in whitebark pine. Larval gallery density/cm egg gallery was significantly higher in whitebark pine than in lodgepole pine; however, egg galleries also tended to be shorter in whitebark pine bolts, and consequently, brood production per gallery did not differ between the two host species. Female body size, female mass and female fat content of brood adults, and survival from larva to adult did not differ between beetles reared in the two hosts. Though this no-choice assay did not simulate the sequence of events occurring during host selection, these data may suggest that beetles could be less likely to attack whitebark pines in southwestern Alberta. Whitebark pines that are attacked will produce brood in similar numbers and condition as those from lodgepole pines.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author