History of the balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg), in British Columbia with notes on a recent range expansion

The balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) was introduced from Europe into eastern North America around 1900 and independently into western North America sometime before 1928.  It was first detected causing damage in North Vancouver, British Columbia in 1958. Since that time it has slowly spread to adjacent areas of southwestern BC. Surveys from 2011 to 2013 confirmed the presence of A. piceae in the Cascades Forest District and in the town of Rossland, BC, which are outside the pre-2014 quarantine area.  Until these recent detections, provincial quarantineregulations have been the principle tool employed to prevent anthropogenic spread of the adelgid through the restriction of movement of potentially infested seedlings and nursery stock from infested coastal regions of British Columbia into the highly susceptible high elevation Abies lasiocarpa stands in the interior forests. We provide a historical overview of the quarantine regulations enacted since 1966; review the distribution of Adelges piceae since the first confirmed records of establishment as documented by historical survey records; and document the extent of recent survey efforts and new detections in interior subalpine fir forests

Visual Ability and Searching Behavior of Adult Laricobius nigrinus, a Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Predator

Very little is known about the searching behavior and sensory cues that Laricobius spp. (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) predators use to locate suitable habitats and prey, which limits our ability to collect and monitor them for classical biological control of adelgids (Hemiptera: Adelgidae). The aim of this study was to examine the visual ability and the searching behavior of newly emerged L. nigrinus Fender, a host-specific predator of the hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Phylloxeroidea: Adelgidae). In a laboratory bioassay, individual adults attempting to locate an uninfested eastern hemlock seedling under either light or dark conditions were observed in an arena. In another bioassay, individual adults searching for prey on hemlock seedlings (infested or uninfested) were continuously video-recorded. Beetles located and began climbing the seedling stem in light significantly more than in dark, indicating that vision is an important sensory modality. Our primary finding was that searching behavior of L. nigrinus, as in most species, was related to food abundance. Beetles did not fly in the presence of high A. tsugae densities and flew when A. tsugae was absent, which agrees with observed aggregations of beetles on heavily infested trees in the field. At close range of prey, slow crawling and frequent turning suggest the use of non-visual cues such as olfaction and contact chemoreception. Based on the beetles' visual ability to locate tree stems and their climbing behavior, a bole trap may be an effective collection and monitoring tool

History of the balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg), in British Columbia with notes on a recent range expansion

The balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) was introduced from Europe into eastern North America around 1900 and independently into western North America sometime before 1928.  It was first detected causing damage in North Vancouver, British Columbia in 1958. Since that time it has slowly spread to adjacent areas of southwestern BC. Surveys from 2011 to 2013 confirmed the presence of A. piceae in the Cascades Forest District and in the town of Rossland, BC, which are outside the pre-2014 quarantine area.  Until these recent detections, provincial quarantineregulations have been the principle tool employed to prevent anthropogenic spread of the adelgid through the restriction of movement of potentially infested seedlings and nursery stock from infested coastal regions of British Columbia into the highly susceptible high elevation Abies lasiocarpa stands in the interior forests. We provide a historical overview of the quarantine regulations enacted since 1966; review the distribution of Adelges piceae since the first confirmed records of establishment as documented by historical survey records; and document the extent of recent survey efforts and new detections in interior subalpine fir forests