Environmental Entomology (1988) 17, 671-674

E. Bauce and Y. Hardy (1988)
Effects of drainage and severe defoliation on the rawfiber content of balsam fir needles and growth of the spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)
Environmental Entomology 17 (4), 671-674
Abstract: Analysis of rawfiber content of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Miller, needles in conjunction with laboratory-reared larvae of spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), during the 1985 growing season indicated significant variations in the quality of food available for consumption by the insect. Two consecutive years of defoliation as well as poor drainage were directly related to higher rawfiber content of the current year's foliage which, in turn, caused a decrease in pupal weight, larval development rate, and survival.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Eric Bauce

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Choristoneura fumiferana	Fir (Abies)	Canada (east)