Biology of the Mountain Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus monticolae Hopkins, in the East Kootenay Region of British Columbia I. Life Cycle, Brood Development, and Flight Periods

Abstract

The importance of the mountain pine beetle to the pine forests of North America has been pointed out by several writers (Hopkins, 1909; Swaine, 1918; Evenden et al., 1943; Hopping and Mathers, 1945). Its range covers parts of southern British Columbia and Alberta, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, and Nevada. The size of populations and the damage vary from year to year. A study of the biology of the mountain pine beetle was made by the writer from 1955 to 1960 in several small outbreak areas near Invermere, British Columbia. (50°30′ N. lat., 116°00′ W. long., 2740 feet above sea level). The host tree in these areas was lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Douglas var. latifolia Engelmann. The results of the study will be presented in three parts. Part I is presented herein and describes the life cycle, brood development, and flight periods. Part II is a discussion of the behaviour of the adult as affected by physical factors operating under the bark. Part III describes the interaction of the insect and its host, with special reference to mortality and brood survival.