Mountain pine beetle population sampling: inferences from Lindgren pheromone traps and tree emergence cages

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Lindgren pheromone traps baited with a mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae)) lure were deployed for three consecutive years in lodgepole pine stands in central Idaho. Mountain pine beetle emergence was also monitored each year using cages on infested trees. Distributions of beetles caught in pheromone traps and emergence cages were compared. Each year, mountain pine beetle emergence from infested trees occurred within a 30-d period, although beetles were caught in pheromone traps over a period as long as 130 d. A large proportion of the total number of beetles caught in pheromone traps occurred prior to and following peak emergence from infested trees. Beetles caught in pheromone traps during the main emergence period from infested trees had greater whole-body lipids compared to beetles caught early and late in the flight season. Low lipid content of beetles caught before and after the main emergence period could be the result of a long-distance flight caused by fewer sources of pheromone attraction on the landscape and (or) some proportion of reemerged parents in the sample. Results suggest that pheromone traps disproportionately sample mountain pine beetle populations and that natural pheromone sources may influence the number and timing of beetles caught in synthetically baited traps.