R SOC900B Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pheromone, Canker, Mountain Pine Beetle

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Rural Sociology
• Course: R SOC900B
• Professor: Victor Lieffers

Document Summary

Why can"t a tree live forever: mechanics, water relations. Insects: survive on the basis of high reproduction, rapid evolution/adaptation. Ways to control insects: silviculture keep trees very healthy to maintain their chemical defenses against the insect, salvage and sanitation of infested trees. Insecticides: chemical, biological (pheromones or biological(bt), parasites. Groups: beetles, butterflies/moths, wasps, flies, scale insects and aphids, classes are bark boring, defoliating, flower-feeding, fruit and seed-feeding, phloem feeding, gall forming. Mountain pine beetle: attack pine, attack older trees, weak flyer but can spread great distances by strong winds, usually found in endemic mode but periods of outbreak are spectacular. Bronze birch borer: native beetle, d shaped hole in bark. Emerald ash borer: kills ash trees by boring below the bark, larvae feed on phloem, exotic insect imported from asia. Butterflies and moths (lepidoptera: these insects usually have four membranous wings that are covered with scales.