OCCURRENCE OF THE WINTER MOTH, OPEROPHTERA BRUMATA (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE), ON SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA

An expanding outbreak of hardwood-defoliating geometrid larvae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) has existed on southern Vancouver Island, B.C., since at least 1972. By 1977 the outbreak had become severe over an estimated 120 km2 in the Victoria and Saanich land districts and a light infestation was present on the Saanich Peninsula.

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WING COLOURATION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BRUCE SPANWORM OPEROPHTERA BRUCEATA (HULST) (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) AND THE WINTER MOTH OPEROPHTERA BRUMATA (L.) ON VANCOUVER ISLAND

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent120697-7 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 120 (7) ◽

pp. 697-698 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kenneth A. Pivnick

Keyword(s):

West Coast ◽

Vancouver Island ◽

Costal Margin ◽

Operophtera Brumata ◽

The West ◽

Separate Species ◽

Winter Moth ◽

Pheromone Trapping ◽

Yellow Orange ◽

Bruce Spanworm

In a recently completed study involving pheromone trapping of the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), on Vancouver Island (Pivnick et al. 1988), I noticed that O. bruceata had wing colouration different from sympatric O. brumata. The west coast O. bruceata has a pale yellow-orange costal margin on the underside of the forewings and this is faint to absent in O. brumata (Fig. 1). It is also absent from O. bruceata in Saskatoon, which is interesting because some authors consider the west coast population of O. bruceata to be a separate species: the western winter moth, O. occidentalis (see Ferguson 1978; Pivnick et al. 1988). Descriptions of O. bruceata (Brown 1962) and O. brumata (Cuming 1961), and a taxonomic key to these two species (Eidt et al. 1966), do not mention any distinctive wing markings that could be used to separate the two species.

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STATUS OF THE PARASITE AGRYPON FLAVEOLATUM (GRAVENHORST) (HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE), INTRODUCED TO CONTROL THE WINTER MOTH IN NOVA SCOTIA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent12111-1 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 121 (1) ◽

pp. 11-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John R. Barron

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Nova Scotia ◽

Native Species ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Operophtera Brumata ◽

Winter Moth ◽

Morphometric Analyses ◽

History Of ◽

Specific Variation ◽

Host Parasite

AbstractAgrypon flaveolatum (Gravenhorst), introduced from Europe to control the winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), on apple and oak in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, was distinguished from the closely related native species, A. provancheri (Dalla Torre) and A. alaskensis (Ashmead). A detailed study of the three species revealed that they could be distinguished by specific morphological characters and by results of morphometric analyses of intra- and inter-specific variation of number of annuli of the antennal flagellum. The history of introductions of both the host and parasite is reviewed, including an account of host–parasite interactions. All of the characters defining species entities were found to be correlated with differences in host insect, host plant, and distribution.

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FINAL-INSTAR LARVAE OF NATIVE HYMENOPTEROUS AND DIPTEROUS PARASITES OF OPEROPHTERA SPP. (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent11345-1 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 113 (1) ◽

pp. 45-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David R. Gillespie ◽

Thelma Finlayson

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

British Columbia ◽

Exotic Species ◽

Vancouver Island ◽

Winter Moth ◽

Host Complex

AbstractNine species of parasites and one hyperparasite were reared from a complex of the brace spanworm, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst), and the European winter moth, O. brumata (L.), collected in the Victoria area of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1976 and 1977. Parasitism of the host complex was about 1.5%, mainly due to an unnamed species of Phobocampe (Ichneumonidae). All species of parasites taken in British Columbia on the two hosts have congeneric counterparts on O. brumata in Europe as listed by Wylie (1961); thus the release of exotic species in addition to the two already released in British Columbia may not enhance the biological control of O. brumata. Descriptions and illustrations of cephalic structures of final-instar larvae of the parasites and a key for their separation are given.

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FINAL-INSTAR LARVAE OF NATIVE PUPAL PARASITES AND HYPERPARASITES OF OPEROPHTERA SPP. (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) ON SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent117525-5 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 117 (5) ◽

pp. 525-534 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

L.M. Humble

Keyword(s):

Native Species ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Vancouver Island ◽

Biological Control Agents ◽

Operophtera Brumata ◽

Winter Moth ◽

The Third ◽

Bruce Spanworm ◽

Total Parasitism ◽

Host Complex

AbstractThree native species of parasites and 3 hyperparasites were reared from pupae of the European winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.), and the Bruce spanworm, O. bruceata (Hulst), collected in the Victoria area of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1981. Two of the pupal parasites also attacked other species of Geometridae. Two species of hyperparasites attacked Cyzenis sp., and the third parasitized ichneumonid primary parasites of Operophtera spp. The hyperparasites may have a negative impact on the biological-control agents, Cyzenis albicans (Fall.) and Agrypon flaveolatum (Grav.). Total parasitism by pupal parasites of the Operophtera host complex was about 4%. Descriptions and illustrations of cephalic structures of final-instar larvae of the parasites and a key for their separation are given.

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The plainfin midshipman’s soundscape at two sites around Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps12730 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 603 ◽

pp. 189-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

WD Halliday ◽

MK Pine ◽

APH Bose ◽

S Balshine ◽

F Juanes

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Vancouver Island

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Forest defoliator pests alter carbon and nitrogen cycles

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.160361 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (10) ◽

pp. 160361 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Anne l-M-Arnold ◽

Maren Grüning ◽

Judy Simon ◽

Annett-Barbara Reinhardt ◽

Norbert Lamersdorf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Leaf Litter ◽

Soil Microbial Activity ◽

Quercus Petraea ◽

Oak Forests ◽

Operophtera Brumata ◽

Winter Moth ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

C And N

Climate change may foster pest epidemics in forests, and thereby the fluxes of elements that are indicators of ecosystem functioning. We examined compounds of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in insect faeces, leaf litter, throughfall and analysed the soils of deciduous oak forests ( Quercus petraea L.) that were heavily infested by the leaf herbivores winter moth ( Operophtera brumata L.) and mottled umber ( Erannis defoliaria L.). In infested forests, total net canopy-to-soil fluxes of C and N deriving from insect faeces, leaf litter and throughfall were 30- and 18-fold higher compared with uninfested oak forests, with 4333 kg C ha −1 and 319 kg N ha −1 , respectively, during a pest outbreak over 3 years. In infested forests, C and N levels in soil solutions were enhanced and C/N ratios in humus layers were reduced indicating an extended canopy-to-soil element pathway compared with the non-infested forests. In a microcosm incubation experiment, soil treatments with insect faeces showed 16-fold higher fluxes of carbon dioxide and 10-fold higher fluxes of dissolved organic carbon compared with soil treatments without added insect faeces (control). Thus, the deposition of high rates of nitrogen and rapidly decomposable carbon compounds in the course of forest pest epidemics appears to stimulate soil microbial activity (i.e. heterotrophic respiration), and therefore, may represent an important mechanism by which climate change can initiate a carbon cycle feedback.

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