Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-25T21:39:53.581Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Artificially Disseminated Virus as a Factor Controlling the European Spruce Sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.) in the Absence of Introduced Parasites1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Extract

An outbreak of the European spruce sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.), occurring in Eastern Canada between 1930 and 1942, was controlled by a virus disease (Balch and Bird, 1944). The sawfly has been kept at a low level by the disease and by parasitic insects introduced from Europe (Bird and Elgee, 1957).

An infestation of the sawfly was discovered in 1947 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the Forest Insect Survey Section of the Forest Biology Laboratory at Sault Ste. Marie. This infestation was about 100 miles beyond the previously known western distribution of the insect. Intensive larval sampling in 1949 showed that it was free from virus and practically free from introduced parasites. Thus, an excellent opportunity was provided to introduce the virus into a disease-free population, to study its establishment and spread, and to compare the long term effects of virus alone on population trends with the effects that virus plus introduced parasites were shown to have on population trends in New Brunswick (Bird and Elgee, 1957). The virus was introduced into the infestation in 1950 and studies were carried out each year from 1950 to 1959.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1961

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balch, R. E., and Bird, F. T.. 1944. A disease of the European spruce sawfly, Gilpinia hercyniae (Htg.) and its place in natural control. Sci. Agr. 25: 6580.Google Scholar
Bird, F. T. 1949. A virus (polyhedral) disease of the European spruce sawfly, Gilpinia hercyniae (Htg.). Thesis. McGill University, Montreal.Google Scholar
Bird, F. T. 1953a. The use of a virus disease in the biological control of the European pine sawfly, Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffr.). Can. Ent. 85: 437446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, F. T. 1953b. The effect of metamorphosis on the multiplication of an insect virus. Can. J. Zool. 31: 300303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, F. T., and Whalen, M. M.. 1954. Stages in the development of two insect viruses. Can. J. Microbiol. 1: 170174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bird, F. T., and Elgee, D. E.. 1957. A virus disease and introduced parasites as factors controlling the European spruce sawfly, Diprion hercyniae (Htg.) in central New Brunswick. Can. Ent. 89: 371378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R. F. 1942. Preliminary notes on the natural control of the European spruce sawfly by small mammals. Can. Ent. 74: 197202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar