Environmental Entomology (1989) 18, 795-799

Michael P. Popp, Robert C. Wilkinson, Eric J. Jokela, R. Bruce Harding and Thomas W. Phillips (1989)
Effects of slash pine phloem nutrition on the reproductive performance of Ips calligraphus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)
Environmental Entomology 18 (5), 795-799
Abstract: The density of eggs laid per centimeter of gallery by laboratory-reared Ips calligraphus (Germar) females was determined following introduction into thin phloem bolts cut from 25-yr-old slash pine, Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii, that had been fertilized at the time of planting with a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or phosphorus alone. Egg density was negatively correlated with female pronotal width (size) and positively correlated with the phloem phosphorus concentration. These two variables explained 64% of the variation in egg density. It is hypothesized that altering egg density in response to varying phloem nutrition represents a resource partitioning mechanism that reduces larval competition. These results also suggest that excessive phosphorus fertilization of slash pine on the Coastal Plain soils could contribute to a build-up in the beetle population without the added benefits of stand growth.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Thomas W. Phillips

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ips calligraphus	Pine (Pinus)	U.S.A. (SE)