An enhanced lure for eastern populations of the North American spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Regional variation in pheromone production and response has practical implications for the use of semiochemical lures to monitor and control bark beetle populations. We tested 4 lure formulations including 2 new formulations that reflect the pheromone production profiles of western and eastern populations of spruce beetles, Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), as well as 2 commercially available formulations (current Rocky Mountain lure and current Atlantic lure), in 2 locations in New Brunswick, Canada. In 2 separate years, the new eastern lure containing seudenol, MCOL, and spruce terpenes captured 4 times (2021) and 11 times (2022) more spruce beetles than the current Atlantic lure that consisted of frontalin, seudenol, and spruce terpenes.

Pheromone and Host Plant Odor Detection in Eastern Spruce Budworm, Clemens (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

Spruce budworm, Clemens, is an ecologically significant defoliator of spruce and balsam fir in North America. Optimization of semiochemical-mediated control is needed to improve the existing integrated pest management systems such as mating disruption and population estimation. This study used single sensillum recordings (SSR) to identify the responses of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in the antennal sensilla of adult male and female to host plant volatiles, and female sex pheromones.

New Canadian and Provincial Records of Coleoptera Resulting from Annual Canadian Food Inspection Agency Surveillance for Detection of Non-Native, Potentially Invasive Forest Insects.

The arrival and establishment of adventive, invasive forest insects are a threat to the health, diversity, and productivity of forests in Canada and the world at large, and their early detection is essential for successful eradication and management. For that reason, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts annual surveys at high risk sites such as international ports and freight terminals, industrial zones, and disposal sites for solid wood packaging material using two methods: (1) semiochemical-baited traps deployed in a total of about 63-80 sites per year in British Columbia (BC), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC), New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL); and (2) rearing of insects from bolts collected from stressed trees and incubated in modified shipping containers in four cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax). We report 31 new Canadian provincial records of Coleoptera from surveys conducted in 2011-2021, including 13 new records for Canada and 9 species adventive to North America (indicated by †).

The effects of clearcut harvesting on moss chloroplast lipidome and adaptation to light stress during boreal forest regeneration.

Moss plays an important role in boreal forest ecosystems as an understory bryophyte species. Clearcut harvesting is a common boreal forest regeneration method that can expose understory vegetation to abiotic stressors impeding their recovery following post-harvest conditions. Very little is known concerning how moss remodel their chloroplast lipidome to enhance photosynthetic performance for successful acclimation to light and water stress during boreal forest regeneration following clearcut harvesting.

Effect of Host Volatile Release Rate and Racemic Fuscumol on Trap Catch of Hylurgus ligniperda, Hylastes ater (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and Arhopalus ferus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).

Early detection of bark- and wood-boring beetles is critical to support the eradication of recently established populations in novel regions. Flight intercept traps baited with semiochemical lures are essential for surveillance and population monitoring of introduced insects. We present laboratory and field data to test potential improvements in trap sensitivity to detect Hylastes ater (Paykull), Hylurgus ligniperda (Fabricius) (Coleoptera:Scolytinae), and Arhopalus ferus (Mulsant) (Coleoptera:Cerambycidae).

Derivation of Pheromone-Based Larval Thresholds in Spruce Budworm Accounting for Distance to Defoliated Forest Stands.

Spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clem. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is the most severe defoliator of Pinaceae in Nearctic boreal forests. Three tools widely used to guide large-scale management decisions (year-to-year defoliation maps; density of overwintering second instars [L2]; number of males at pheromone traps) were integrated to derive pheromone-based thresholds corresponding to specific intergenerational transitions in larval densities (L2i → L2i+1), taking into account the novel finding that threshold estimates decline with distance to defoliated forest stands (DIST).

Maximizing Bark and Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Catches in Trapping Surveys for Longhorn and Jewel Beetles.

Bark and ambrosia beetles are commonly moved among continents within timber and fresh wood-packaging materials. Routine visual inspections of imported commodities are often complemented with baited traps set up in natural areas surrounding entry points. Given that these activities can be expensive, trapping protocols that attract multiple species simultaneously are needed.

Electrophysiological Responses of the Beech Leaf-Mining Weevil, Orchestes fagi, to Seasonally-Variant Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by American Beech, Fagus grandifolia.

The beech leaf-mining weevil, Orchestes fagi, is a common pest of European beech, Fagus sylvatica, and has recently become established in Nova Scotia, Canada where it similarly infests American beech, F. grandifolia. We collected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by F.

Earlier springs enable high-Arctic wolf spiders to produce a second clutch.

Spiders at southern latitudes commonly produce multiple clutches, but this has not been observed at high latitudes where activity seasons are much shorter. Yet the timing of snowmelt is advancing in the Arctic, which may allow some species to produce an additional clutch. To determine if this is already happening, we used specimens of the wolf spider caught by pitfall traps from the long-term (1996-2014) monitoring programme at Zackenberg, NE Greenland.

Response of native and exotic longhorn beetles to common pheromone components provides partial support for the pheromone-free space hypothesis.

Longhorn beetles are among the most important groups of invasive forest insects worldwide. In parallel, they represent one of the most well-studied insect groups in terms of chemical ecology. Longhorn beetle aggregation-sex pheromones are commonly used as trap lures for specific and generic surveillance programs at points of entry and may play a key role in determining the success or failure of exotic species establishment.

Effects of Topical Tebufenozide Application to Pupae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

(Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a defoliating pest in Canada and the northeastern United States. Given its important ecological and economic effects in affected regions, several direct management techniques have been developed, including the application of the insect growth regulator tebufenozide (Mimic™, RH-5992) to feeding larval stages. While the effectiveness of tebufenozide, in this capacity, is understood, management programs of other lepidopteran pests have demonstrated the effectiveness of tebufenozide application when utilized against other life stages.

Variation in Wing Load of Female Spruce Budworms (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) During the Course of an Outbreak: Evidence for Phenotypic Response to Habitat Deterioration in Collapsing Populations.

Reproduction in female spruce budworms, Choristoneura fumiferana, entails sedentary oviposition early in life (gravid females with their heavy abdomen full of eggs are unable to sustain flight), followed by short- and long-range dispersal by females that have laid a portion of their eggs. Body size measurements (wing surface area and dry weight) of gravid females, spent females at death (after all eggs are laid), and inflight females captured at light traps were collected at one location (forest stands near Fredericton in New Brunswick) over multiple years, from the outbreak stage (1976-1979: peak budworm abundance) to late declining phase with collapsing populations (1988-1989, following near two-fold magnitude of decline in adult density after 1987). For both demographic phases, females rarely flew until having laid at least 40% of their eggs, in contradiction to the hypothesis that females in defoliated forest stands can fly upon emergence due to their light-weight abdomen.

Semiochemical and Communication Ecology of the Emerald Ash Borer, (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

Knowledge of buprestid chemical ecology is sparse but the appearance of the invasive pest Fairmaire in North America has provided the impetus to study in detail the semiochemistry and ecology of this important buprestid. The macrocyclic lactone (3Z)-12-dodecenolide [(3Z)-lactone] is identified as a key antennally-active compound that is produced by females and attracts males. Though a weak trap attractant alone, when combined with the host kairomone (3Z)-hexenol and the important visual cue of a green canopy trap, significant increases in male trap capture occur, thus defining (3Z)-lactone as both a sex pheromone of as well as the first and only known buprestid pheromone.

A Phenology Model for Asian Gypsy Moth Egg Hatch.

Phenology models are useful tools in pest management interventions, biosecurity operations targeting alien invaders, and answering questions regarding the potential for range expansion/shift. The Gypsy Moth Life Stage model (GLS) has been used to predict the invasive range of the North American gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar dispar Linnaeus [Lepidoptera: Erebidae]) in North America and New Zealand. It has been used to examine the role of supra-optimal temperatures in range expansion/stasis/retraction.

Circumpolar terrestrial arthropod monitoring: A review of ongoing activities, opportunities and challenges, with a focus on spiders.

The terrestrial chapter of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) has the potential to bring international multi-taxon, long-term monitoring together, but detailed fundamental species information for Arctic arthropods lags far behind that for vertebrates and plants. In this paper, we demonstrate this major challenge to the CBMP by focussing on spiders (Order: Araneae) as an example group. We collate available circumpolar data on the distribution of spiders and highlight the current monitoring opportunities and identify the key knowledge gaps to address before monitoring can become efficient.

Status and trends of terrestrial arthropod abundance and diversity in the North Atlantic region of the Arctic.

The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (CBMP) provides an opportunity to improve our knowledge of Arctic arthropod diversity, but initial baseline studies are required to summarise the status and trends of planned target groups of species known as Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs). We begin this process by collating available data for a relatively well-studied region in the Arctic, the North Atlantic region, summarising the diversity of key terrestrial arthropod FECs, and compiling trends for some representative species. We found the FEC classification system to be challenging to implement, but identified some key groups to target in the initial phases of the programme.

Age-Dependent Developmental Response to Temperature: An Examination of the Rarely Tested Phenomenon in Two Species (Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) and Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)).

The pervading paradigm in insect phenology models is that the response to a given temperature does not vary within a life stage. The developmental rate functions that have been developed for general use, or for specific insects, have for the most part been temperature-dependent but not age-dependent, except where age is an ordinal variable designating the larval instar. Age dependence, where age is a continuous variable, is not often reported (or investigated), and is rarely included in phenology models.

Age-related changes in survival and turnover rates of balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) fine roots.

Fine-root (≤2 mm) demographics change as forests age, but the direction and extent of change are unknown. Knowledge of the change and understanding of causes will improve predictions of climate change impacts. We used minirhizotrons at three young and three mature balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.

Impact of an Invasive Longhorned Beetle, Tetropium fuscum (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), on Community Structure of Subcortical and Wood-Associated Insects in Eastern Canada.

Tetropium fuscum (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), a phloem-feeding and wood-boring beetle introduced from Eurasia, attacks spruce in eastern Canada alongside its native congener Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby. We reared phloem- and wood-feeding insects (and their predators) from bolts of red and Norway spruce (Picea rubens and Picea abies) in Nova Scotia, comparing insect communities between bolts with added eggs of T. fuscum or T.

Bivariate Pheromone-based Monitoring of Spruce Budworm Larvae (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

A bivariate approach to pheromone-based monitoring is developed for the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). The approach uses captures of males at pheromone traps for generation t (♂t) as a transitive term between densities of overwintering larvae in consecutive generations (L2t, L2t+1), based on a large data set including >2,000 observations in the province of Quebec (QC) between the interval 1992 and 2010.

Unsaturated Cuticular Hydrocarbons Enhance Responses to Sex Pheromone in Spruce Budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana.

The primary sex pheromone components of the female spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), are (E)- and (Z)-11-tetradecenal, produced in 95:5 ratio. However, male flight responses to calling females in a wind tunnel were faster and maintained longer than responses to any synthetic aldehyde blend.

Opposing effects of mortality factors on progeny operational sex ratio may thwart adaptive manipulation of primary sex ratio.

Despite extensive research on mechanisms generating biases in sex ratios, the capacity of natural enemies to shift or further skew operational sex ratios following sex allocation and parental care remains largely unstudied in natural populations. Male cocoons of the sawfly (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) are consistently smaller than those of females, with very little overlap, and thus, we were able to use cocoon size to sex cocoons. We studied three consecutive cohorts of in six forest stands to detect cocoon volume-associated biases in the attack of predators, pathogens, and parasitoids and examine how the combined effect of natural enemies shapes the realized operational sex ratio.

Incorporating interspecific competition into species-distribution mapping by upward scaling of small-scale model projections to the landscape.

There are a number of overarching questions and debate in the scientific community concerning the importance of biotic interactions in species distribution models at large spatial scales. In this paper, we present a framework for revising the potential distribution of tree species native to the Western Ecoregion of Nova Scotia, Canada, by integrating the long-term effects of interspecific competition into an existing abiotic-factor-based definition of potential species distribution (PSD). The PSD model is developed by combining spatially explicit data of individualistic species' response to normalized incident photosynthetically active radiation, soil water content, and growing degree days.