Studies on the Starvation of Last-Instar Larvae of the Larch Sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae)

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Abstract
Larvae of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Htg.), feed on the foliage of conifers of the genus Larix. In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where the studies described here were conducted, the native host is tamarack, L. laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch. At outbreak population levels larval feeding commonly causes complete defoliation. Trees show a marked reduction in foliage production after three or four successire vears af severe defoliation (6). As a consequence, larval starvation is commonly associated with declining host vigour. Starvation reduces the population size directly by causing larval mortality and indirectly by reducing the reproductive capacity of the partially starved survivors. This paper deals primarily with the measurement of the sub-lethal effects of starvation during the last larval stadium as studied in laboratory-reared and field-collected insects.